Woman pleads guilty in crash that killed son
A Washington woman pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle in a 2014 crash on Interstate 70 in Buffalo Township that killed her 6-year-old son.
State police filed charges in May against Crystal Lashea Rush, 25, two years after she and her son, Dominic, were ejected from a sport utility vehicle near mile marker 12 of the interstate during the June 4, 2014, single-vehicle wreck. Rush had been driving the SUV west in the left lane when police said she lost control and the vehicle careened into the median, rolling over several times.
Rush entered the plea Thursday during an appearance for a formal arraignment before Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle, and also pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child.
Sentencing for Rush will be deferred because she still faces charges of possession with intent to deliver Suboxone and possession of a controlled substance filed by state police. The charges stem from two incidents in which she allegedly sold the drug to an undercover investigator.
Her attorney, Sam Pangburn, said that “once those are taken care of, there’ll be a combined sentencing.”
Police responded to the I-70 accident to find Rush in the median near the eastbound shoulder of the highway and her son pinned under the roof of the 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He was pronounced dead at the site of the crash.
“This young lady – she has to live with that every day,” Pangburn said. “I’m going to certainly request grief counseling for her.”
Prosecutors dropped other charges related to the incident in the plea deal.
An accident reconstruction specialist and state police automotive supervisor determined the tires of the SUV had been worn past their tread wear bars. The wear on the tires, combined with water collecting on the road because of a steady rain, may have meant the speed at which she was driving was unsafe, police said. The reconstruction specialist’s report also indicated there was a child safety seat in the back but alleged it was “improperly secured and appeared to have been tossed about the vehicle.”
Troopers also discovered Rush didn’t have a valid driver’s license. Her blood was drawn at the hospital and allegedly tested positive for the opioid painkiller hydrocodone. Charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and driving under the influence of a controlled substance that state police initially filed were withdrawn at a preliminary hearing in July. District Attorney Gene Vittone said at the time he didn’t feel the drugs allegedly found in Rush’s system caused the crash and decided to withdraw the charges after consulting with First Assistant District Attorney Dennis Paluso.
Rush is being held in Washington County jail on $100,000 bond for the fatal crash, plus $50,000 on the drug charges.