HANCOCK COUNTY — The Hancock County prosecutor’s office has charged an Indianapolis man with four felony counts after a fatal car crash Tuesday afternoon.
Iran Taylor, 21, Indianapolis, is sitting in the Hancock County Jail, where he has been charged with a Level 4 felony count of causing death while operating a motor vehicle; a Level 4 felony count of causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a scheduled I or II controlled substance; a Level 5 felony count of reckless homicide; and a Level 5 felony count of driving while suspended.
He’s scheduled to make an appearance in Hancock County Superior Court 1 in front of Judge Marie Castetter today (Thursday, Feb. 6).
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Taylor was the driver of a 2003 Buick LeSabre that collided with another vehicle at about 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, at State Road 234 and County Road 600E. A passenger in Taylor’s car, Reno Cook, 22, New Castle, was killed.
The driver of the second vehicle, Madison Durham-Weston, 19, Greenfield, suffered minor injuries.
“Thankfully, her airbags went off,” her father, Garald Ard, said Wednesday afternoon. “She just saw smoke and thought her car was on fire so she had to push the door to get out.”
Ard is a firefighter in Indianapolis and was able to get to the scene fairly quickly because the family lives nearby. He said Madison, who had been driving west on State Road 234, was simply trying to make a turn south on County Road 600E when Taylor plowed his car into hers.
Durham-Weston’s car, a 2015 Kia Forte, wound up in a field with the entire front of it caved in. Her mother, Shawana Durham, wrote in a post on the Daily Reporter Facebook page that the family is thankful for the help the young woman received at the scene.
“There was also a woman that stopped and comforted and hugged my daughter until we were able to get there,” Durham said.
According to a report by the Hancock County Fatal Accident Crash Team, the LeSabre was traveling north on County Road 600E as it came up behind a number of cars stopped at the stop sign at the intersection with State Road 234. According to multiple witnesses, the Buick then pulled out and passed the stopped vehicles and entered the intersection, the report said. Traffic on State Road 234 does not have to stop at that intersection.
Durham-Weston was westbound on State Road 234 in her Kia as the Buick suddenly appeared. Her car and the Buick collided. Cook, who was sitting in the backseat on the passenger side in the Buick, died in the collision.
Three additional passengers were in the Buick: Christopher Hossman, 36, Anderson; Joshua Pope, 46, Mount Summit; and Bobby Evans, 57, Terre Haute. All three were transported to hospitals to be treated for injuries. The extent of their injuries was not known.
Taylor submitted to a chemical test, which showed THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, was in his system. He was immediately arrested and taken to jail.
