A 23-year-old Michigan man has admitted guilt in a deadly chain-reaction crash on I-465 near 86th Street that killed a northwest-side Indianapolis mother and left her daughter critically injured.
Court filings identify the defendant as Gavin Mosley and state that the wreck happened on Oct. 5, 2023. Mosley is set to be sentenced in Marion County on Friday, April 23, 2026.
Plea deal and charges
According to WTHR, Mosley pleaded guilty Thursday to felony reckless homicide as part of a plea agreement that caps his potential time behind bars at three years. Prosecutors say the deal resolves the case stemming from a rear-end collision that triggered a multi-car chain reaction on the northwest side of Indianapolis.
How the law treats reckless homicide
Reckless homicide is classified as a Level 5 felony under Indiana Code §35-42-1-5, which covers killings that result from reckless conduct, as outlined by Justia. The statutory range for a Level 5 felony is generally one to six years in prison, with an advisory sentence of about three years, according to legal summaries from FindLaw.
Evidence cited in court filings
Court records and reporting outline a grim stretch of minutes before the crash. Investigators say Mosley sent dozens of messages in roughly 27 minutes, including 15 Snapchat posts, while his car’s data showed a speed of about 65 mph until just 0.4 seconds before impact.
Prosecutors told reporters that the family vehicle was stopped in a construction zone when Mosley’s vehicle struck it from behind, triggering the chain-reaction collision, according to WTHR.
Victim impact and family reaction
The crash killed Sara Davis. Her daughter, Rachel Davis, survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken vertebrae and other serious injuries, and spent about a month in the hospital, family members say.
The Davis family, who have spoken publicly about the crash and their ongoing recovery, told WISH-TV they plan to attend the sentencing hearing with roughly 20 friends so they can deliver victim-impact statements directly to the court.
Distracted driving remains a statewide problem
Indiana adopted a hands-free law in 2020, but drivers staring at their phones instead of the road remain a persistent hazard. As Axios Indianapolis reports, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute recorded nearly 18,900 hands-free citations in 2024. State officials say distracted driving and speeding were factors in more than 17,000 crashes last year.
What happens next
Sentencing is scheduled for April 23, 2026. The judge will weigh the plea agreement, victim-impact statements and other factors before handing down a sentence. Under the deal, Mosley faces up to three years in prison, even though Indiana’s reckless homicide statute allows for a sentence of up to six years for a Level 5 felony.
