This from the Pharos Tribune: CASS COUNTY, IN- Logansport man accused of killing two Cass County teenagers and injuring three others during a November 2018 crash is intending to plead guilty in court next week for his role in the incident.
According to documents filed by the Howard County Clerk’s Office, Treundon Johnson will plead guilty to 10 counts related to the crash.
Those charges include two Level 4 felony charges of operating while intoxicated with controlled substances causing death; three Level 5 felony charges of operating while intoxicated with controlled substances causing serious bodily injury; two Level 5 felony charges of driving while suspended resulting in death; and three Level 6 felony charges of driving while suspended resulting in serious bodily injury.
Per terms of the proposed plea agreement, two Level 4 felony charges of reckless homicide would be dismissed.
Court documents also state that Johnson plans to plead guilty to a felony charge of being a habitual vehicular substance offender when he stands before a judge in the case next Tuesday.
According to the law, the judge has the discretion of accepting or rejecting Johnson’s plea, but the agreement between both parties in the case has asked for a sentence cap of 28 years to be served in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Some of those sentences — the counts involving operating while intoxicated with controlled substances — would run consecutively with each other, while the others — those relating to driving while suspended — would run concurrently, court documents indicated.
On Nov. 18, 2018, first responders were dispatched to the area of U.S. 35 and County Road 80 West at around 2 a.m. in reference to a crash involving two vehicles, police reports stated at the time.
Preliminary investigations indicated that a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix, driven by Johnson, was traveling eastbound on U.S. 35 when it crossed the center line and struck a 2011 Kia Soul driven by then-18-year-old Elizabeth Smith, of Logansport.
Smith was transported to Community Howard Regional Health in Kokomo and then to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis.
Four juveniles were also in Smith’s car at the time of the crash, according to investigators on scene. It was later determined that the five of them were on a trip to Dan’s Donuts in Kokomo when the incident occurred.
Two of those passengers, a 16-year-old male named Auden Wayne Myers and a 17-year-old female named Haley Marie Begley, both of Logansport, were transported to St. Vincent Hospital in Kokomo, where they later died from their injuries.
The two other passengers in Smith’s vehicle, then 16-year-old Erica White and then 17-year-old Gavin Morgan, were also transported to hospitals in Kokomo before being transported to Indianapolis for further treatment.
Johnson suffered minor injuries during the crash, investigators noted, and he was taken to Community Howard Regional Health before being transported to the Howard County Jail.
He is set to plead guilty in the case during a change of plea hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 13, inside Howard Circuit Court.
