Kansas Driver Won’t Face Charges in Fatal Soccer Field Crash

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said investigators found no evidence that the 34-year-old driver intentionally caused the crash or consciously disregarded a serious risk. The collision at Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex killed McPherson residents Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, and injured 10 others.

The woman had driven about 200 miles from Garden City with her children for their games. She told them she planned to nap in her husband’s pickup, and one child covered the windshield with a sunshade. The truck later accelerated from its parking space and crossed onto the field. Witnesses described the driver as distraught and appearing recently awakened.

Investigators could not establish whether the pickup had been placed in park. They considered whether the driver might have shifted gears while asleep, but Bennett said that seemed unlikely because changing gears required pressing the brake and involved other steps. Another possibility was that the truck had remained in drive. A test using a similar vehicle found it stopped at the curb, which was about seven inches high.

Police found no mechanical defect and no intoxicating substances in the driver’s blood. Officials also reviewed medical records and social media, and interviewed people at the complex; no one reported a dispute involving the woman. Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said some questions might remain unanswered. Authorities contacted the victims’ families and those injured about the investigation’s findings.