Mother formally indicted in 2-year-old’s crash death
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman — jailed on a reckless murder charge after her 2-year-old son died as a result of a violent, head-on February 25 crash that that also caused serious injury to at least six others — has been formally indicted by a county grand jury.
Sara Emily Janes, 31, was originally charged with one count of reckless murder and two counts of first-degree assault (DUI). The grand jury returned a true bill charging her with reckless murder and six counts of first-degree assault (DUI).
According to an Alabama State Trooper crash report, Janes had a blood-alcohol content (bac) of .116 at the time of the crash, which happened on U.S. 31, near Atmore Country Club (a bac of .08 is considered legally intoxicated). She was also under the influence of an unspecified controlled substance, according to the report.
Janes, who was also injured, was arrested by Escambia County Fla. lawmen when she was released from a Pensacola hospital. She was transferred to the Escambia County Detention Center in March and was released from the facility after a $500,000 bond was posted on her behalf.
After the recent indictment was handed up, she was rebooked and now has a bond of $750,000 and four more counts of assault. If Janes makes bond again, she will still have to abide by the four conditions attached to the initial bond. She will remain under house arrest; she will not be allowed to drive; she will be subject to random drug testing; and she will be prohibited from having any contact with her victims.
According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency crash report, Janes told troopers immediately after the head-on smash-up — which happened when the Cadillac SRX she was driving crossed the federal highway’s centerline and collided head-on with a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica driven by Brittany N. Colley, 38, of Mobile — that she “couldn’t remember” what happened in the crash.
Janes was injured, as was another of her children, a 4-year-old, who was in her vehicle. Also injured were the Mobile woman driving the Chrysler and four children — ages 15, 12, 9 and 6 — who were passengers in that vehicle.
Colley, her 12-year-old child reportedly joined several bystanders to pull the other children safely out of the Pacifica, which caught fire after impact and was burning fiercely by the time first responders arrived.
ALEA’s investigation into the crash became a homicide probe when Janes’ critically injured child passed away in a Pensacola hospital.
Family members reported that the toddler was flown by air ambulance to an area trauma center, where he went into cardiac arrest. He was then flown to another hospital, where doctors discovered his spine had been severed. The child remained on life support until doctors pronounced him dead on March 1.
Colley reportedly suffered a crushed heel; one of her children suffered a broken back, colon damage and leakage around her heart; another suffered a broken collarbone, and the most seriously injured underwent at least two surgeries to repair damage to his intestines.
No date was set for the onset of legal proceedings against Janes.