INDIANAPOLIS — Two drivers have been sentenced after they pleaded guilty to a 2020 chain-reaction crash that killed three teenagers on the northwest side of Indianapolis.
52-year-old Okadema Link and 27-year-old Shantiana Willis, father and daughter, entered guilty pleas on three charges each for causing death while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Link was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Willis was sentenced to 9 years.
Link and Willis were charged following a May 23, 2020 crash that killed Kiera Brown, 15, David Evans, 14, and Tyjiana Velez 13. The teens were walking in the 3600 block of Kessler Boulevard North Drive around 1:20 a.m. when a chain-reaction crash occurred in the area and one of the vehicles struck them.
According to court documents filed against Link and Willis, the two were traveling at excessive speeds in the moments before the crash. Witnesses described two vehicles, allegedly driven by Link and Willis, driving at a high rate of speed before crashing into one another.
One witness told investigators the vehicles "appeared to be racing."
According to court documents, investigators believe Link’s vehicle was traveling approximately 73 mph, two seconds prior to the crash and Willis’ vehicle was traveling approximately 88 mph just before the crash.
The speed limit on Kessler Boulevard North Drive is 35 mph.
After the initial collision, investigators believe Link drove over the white fog line and struck the teens. Link then fled the scene but later returned. Link and Willis were arrested on May 28, 2020.
