| By Big Radio News Staff |
A Rock County criminal complaint filed Tuesday reveals more about a traffic crash in which four residents from a Whitewater-area group home died while being transported by a home employee.
Lexus Boedecker, 24, of Elkhorn is charged with four counts of homicide by use of a vehicle, a count of causing great bodily harm and three counts of causing injury, all while under the influence of a controlled substance.
The complaint says Boedecker, who was pregnant at the time, was driving seven residents of Willow Winds group home in a minivan on April 13 when she drove through a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 12 and East County Line Road in Lima Township, causing a chain reaction crash with two other cars.
Three of Boedecker’s passengers were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, the complaint says. A fourth victim died a few days later. The three others who were riding in Boedecker’s van, which the complaint says she was not registered to drive for Willow Winds, all suffered injuries, as did the driver of one of the other vehicles.
A blood draw from Boedecker taken the day of the crash came back positive for THC, the complaint says, and medical personnel who treated her told police she said she was 23 weeks pregnant and reported using marijuana seven times a week. One of the passengers who was injured later reported Boedecker was talking on her phone at the time of the crash.
Boedecker’s initial court appearance is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday.
