Prosecutor: Driver in deadly crash had meth in system

(LAWRENCEBURG, Ind.) – A driver involved in a crash that killed a Milan couple earlier this summer has been arrested.

Jordan and Sierra Walters were killed when a pickup crossed the centerline and struck their vehicle on State Road 350 on June 12. 

Their two young sons were in the vehicle as the family was driving to a Milan youth baseball game. Both kids were briefly hospitalized. 

The pickup driver was identified as 46-year-old Steven Witte of Moores Hill.

The Dearborn County prosecutor announced on Tuesday that blood samples that were recently received show the presence of methamphetamine, amphetamine, buprenorphine, and norbuprenorphine in Witte’s blood.

Prosecutor Lynn Deddens said Witte was interviewed and stated that he was drug-dependent at the time of the crash, had no memory of the collision and was a habitual meth user. 

“Witte also identified suspected drugs recovered from his truck following the crash as the same drugs that had been inside his vehicle that day,” according to court documents.

He has been charged with Operating a Vehicle Causing Death with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance, Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Death,Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury ,Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Endangering a Person, Operating a Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance in the Blood. 

In a separate incident, Witte was also arrested this past weekend after a traffic stop. He was a passenger in a vehicle and was charged with Possession of over 10 grams of Methamphetamine.

Prosecutor Deddens has called the June crash an unimaginable tragedy and credited the Walters’ 6-year-old son who sought help after the crash. 

Despite being injured himself, the 6-year-old climbed out of the wrecked vehicle, made his way under the guardrail, and reached the roadway to seek help for his parents and younger brother.

“No criminal charge can restore what this family has lost or erase the pain these children and their loved ones will carry. Our responsibility now is to pursue accountability carefully, thoroughly, and with the seriousness this case demands,” Deddens said.

An initial hearing was held Tuesday and a bond of $5 million cash-only was set for the case involving the crash.

In regard to the meth possession charge from this weekend, a bond was set at $1M surety + $50,000 cash.

Following the crash, there has been an outpouring of support for the Walters family that included multiple fundraisers and events in Southeast Indiana.