An Evansville woman was sentenced to two years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to killing two pedestrians in a July 2024 crash that investigators say involved dangerously high levels of methamphetamine in her system. Crystal Edmonds appeared in a Vanderburgh County courtroom to face the consequences of a crash that killed Mark Jeffers and Regina Hinkel as they crossed a street in Evansville.
Edmonds pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death when operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance, according to tristatehomepage.com. Evansville police reported that Edmonds’ vehicle struck and killed Jeffers and Hinkel as they were crossing the street in July 2024, and that they died at the scene, per 14news.com.
Reports differ on exactly where the crash happened. 14news.com identifies the location as Fulton Avenue, while tristatehomepage.com reports the two victims were struck while crossing West Florida Street. Neither outlet's account has been independently confirmed against the other, and Hoodline is presenting both versions rather than choosing one.
Toxicology Findings and Sentencing Terms
Investigators said Edmonds’ toxicology report showed methamphetamine levels that fell between the toxic and comatose fatal categories, according to the station's report. As part of her sentencing, Edmonds will have her driver's license suspended for six years.
The exact structure of Edmonds’ post-prison supervision is also described differently across coverage. 14news.com reports she was sentenced to two years executed at the Indiana Department of Correction, followed by two years of electronic home detention and two years suspended to a drug and alcohol deferral services program. Tristatehomepage.com, however, reports the sentence as two years in prison followed by two years of home confinement and two years of probation. Hoodline could not verify which account reflects the court's exact terms.
A Prior Arrest at Ellis Park
This was not Edmonds’ first brush with the law involving a pedestrian struck by her vehicle. She had previously been arrested in 2023 for hitting a 79-year-old pedestrian in the parking lot of Ellis Park, per the same account from 14news.com.
That earlier incident, first reported by 14news.com, described deputies saying the then-45-year-old Edmonds was pulling into a parking space and didn't see the man walking by. The pedestrian was taken to an Evansville hospital for his injuries, and Edmonds was arrested on several charges at the time, including driving on a suspended license and having no insurance.
The 2024 crash and Friday's sentencing were also detailed by Arizona's Family, which reported on Edmonds’ guilty plea and the deaths of Jeffers and Hinkel. The case underscores the risks tied to drug-impaired driving broadly; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has studied the odds of crash involvement when a driver tests positive for alcohol or drugs, though the agency notes a positive drug result does not necessarily mean the drug caused a given crash, according to NHTSA.
