A woman involved in a Thanksgiving Day wreck just north of Seymour now faces a felony charge, police report.
On Dec. 1, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department Officer Brad Barker worked with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office to file charges against Catalina De Sebastian Francisco-Sebastian, 27, of Seymour.
That includes a Level 5 felony charge of reckless driving/aggressive driving with catastrophic injury and misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while never having received a driver’s license and providing false information on a driver’s license application.
The investigation led to her arrest on a warrant Friday at her home by Seymour police officers. She was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown at 10:53 p.m. but was released 12 minutes later on her own recognizance.
Barker said that was due to the totality of her injuries, which includes massive internal injuries and very serious compound fractures to her arm and leg.
"She was still in very, very, very poor shape from her injuries, and with all of her injuries and all of the medical attention she was going to need, they ended up releasing her from our jail," he said.
Francisco-Sebastian, however, is set to make an appearance at 1 p.m. Jan. 15 in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.
She was one of three people flown to Indianapolis hospitals the night of Nov. 28, 2019, after a two-vehicle crash in the 8000 block of North State Road 11 just south of the blue bridge over the East Fork White River. That was reported at 10:29 p.m.
Francisco-Sebastian was driving a 2007 Toyota passenger car south when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2017 Ford F150 pickup being driven by Kayia Davis, 41, of Brownstown nearly head-on, police said.
Davis had to be extricated from her truck by Seymour firefighters and was flown to Methodist Hospital by LifeLine. She sustained leg, ankle and multiple internal injuries. Then during her first few days in the hospital, she suffered a stroke.
Throughout her time in the hospital, a friend has shared updates via the Kayia’s Journey Facebook page. On Monday afternoon, it was stated she had "a pleasant weekend" with a few visitors, including her youngest son, Brady.
"There’s not much different to report," the post read. "She’s still doing therapy, and she moves her head back and forth and moves her legs some, too. They’re trying to figure out a good food supplement that works for her feed line because she’s had some trouble keeping food down off and on. She will see a doctor about that sometime next week."
Davis is now at a long-term acute care facility in Indianapolis, where she could stay four to eight weeks, according to the Kayia’s Journey page. Then she will need to be in another rehabilitation facility for an undetermined amount of time.
A community benefit auction for Davis is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 29 at Pewter Hall, 850 W. Sweet St., Brownstown. There will be a silent auction, a live auction, raffles for a rifle and a candy basket, food available for purchase and a cash bar.
There are 600 tickets available for purchase, and they are $10. Tables can be reserved with the purchase of 10 tickets. They may be purchased from Dustin Steward, Kylene Steward, Jodi Tiemeyer or Ben Tiemeyer or at Flourish Beauty Salon (Megan Davis), Pewter Hall or Self Insurance Services LLC (Todd Brown), all in Brownstown.
"She is taking it a day at a time, but our goal is to help her family with the financial strain that long-term illness and care facilities can create," a post on the Kayia’s Journey page read. "Her husband, Brent, and her parents have been staying with her. Brent has taken a leave from work, but they also have two boys, ages 15 and 11, that they need to provide for."
The other person sustaining an injury after the wreck was Francisco-Sebastian’s son, David Francisco. He was found in the floorboard area of the backseat and had a compound fracture in his leg and other injuries. He was treated and taken to the emergency room at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour before being flown to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health by Air Care of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Police also were told a man fled from the wreck shortly before emergency personnel arrived at the scene. The next day, Detective Ben Rudolph joined Barker, the investigating officer, and was able to identify the man as Emilio Jacinto Gomez, 19, of Seymour and locate him.
Gomez told police he ran because he was scared, Barker said. Rudolph was assisted in identifying the driver of the car by county dispatcher Bethany McElfresh and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Both the car and truck sustained major damages in the wreck. The car came to rest in the southbound lane after impact. The truck, which appeared to have rolled over, was over a guardrail and resting on trees on the driver’s side. It was facing south on the east side of the highway.
Barker said a witness who was traveling in front of Francisco-Sebastian’s car told him she started to overtake their vehicle in a no-passing zone before the wreck occurred.
When he found Francisco-Sebastian’s wallet in her car, Barker said she had a fake identification and had never been licensed in the United States. That led to him requesting charges through the prosecutor’s office.
He said reckless driving/aggressive driving with catastrophic injury is a new charge in the state statute. Catastrophic injury could include blindness, paralysis or where a person has to have assistance to live daily for more than a year, he said.
"I requested the prosecutor to look over the case and see if there was any other additional charges that would fit in this scenario, and they said this was a new charge they have never pursued before, but they said that it’s definitely fitting in this scenario," Barker said. "Right now, with Kayia’s condition, they definitely believed that that falls into that category."
If convicted on the felony charge, Francisco-Sebastian could face up to six years in jail.