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Mom Charged In Crash That Killed 2 Of Her Daughters And Their Teen Friend While Visiting Husband's Grave In Crowded Pickup
Julianne Shead was indicted on aggravated vehicular homicide charges for a crash that killed two of her daughters, Marlana J. Mullin and Christine Shead, well as family friend Evey Montecalvo.
An Ohio woman has been charged with vehicular homicide for a crash that resulted in the death of two of her daughters and a teenage family friend.
Julianne Shead, 41, was indicted last week on three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, and two counts of vehicular assault, a third-degree felony for a deadly mid-December crash, the Kent Record-Courier reports. She’s been booked on a $1.5 million bond as a result. She pleaded not guilty on Monday, WJW in Cleveland reports.
Shead was driving a pickup truck, which contained seven passengers as she drove to visit the grave of her late husband Douglas Shead, the Record-Courier reports. He died in 2018 at age 46 from a motorcycle crash.
The mother was allegedly speeding when she failed to take a curve. She hit a tree and six of the eight occupants inside the pickup were ejected, a December press release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol states. Her daughters Marlana J. Mullin, 22, Christine Shead, 12, as well as family friend Evey Montecalvo, 13, were killed. Two of her sons and a nephew were injured in the crash.
Investigators suspect that Shead was under the influence at the time of the incident, though toxicology results are still pending. Such allegations are no stranger to the mother. She’s previously been convicted twice for driving under the influence of alcohol— once in 2005 and once in 1999. A third charge stemming from a September arrest is pending. She has been awaiting trial for a first-degree misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs for that incident.
Lack of seatbelts also allegedly played a role in the crash. Ohio State Highway Lt. Jeffrey Greene stated in court Monday that there were six occupants in the back seat of the pickup.
“Unsafe speed, impairment and not wearing an available safety belt continue to be leading causes of traffic fatalities, and this tragic incident involves all three,” Green said in the December press release.
Shead's lawyer, Jonathan Sinn, stated in court Monday that it was a “tragedy.”
“She was coming back from visiting the gravesite of her late husband when this happened,” he said. “The vehicle was filled with kids. It was just a tragedy that I don’t think anyone can fathom.”
