Christina Kovats
Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center
(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – A Dearborn County jury has convicted a woman for fleeing police, then crashing her vehicle with an elderly passenger inside.
Following a four-day trial, the jury returned the verdict against Christina M. Kovats in Dearborn Superior Court I on Thursday. The 26-year-old Lawrenceburg resident was found guilty of Neglect of a Dependant, a Class B felony; and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Serious Bodily Injury, Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle, and Criminal Recklessness, all Class D felonies.
Kovats was a certified nursing assistant and caretaker of 89-year-old Naomi G. Cooke, an Auroran recovering from a stroke.
According to the charging information filed at the time of her arrest, Kovats had stolen gas from a service station on State Road 350 in Milan on October 28. When a trooper tried to stop her on the highway in Dearborn County she accelerated, passing several cars in no passing zones – all while Cooke sat in the passenger seat.
Witnesses said Kovats appeared to reach speeds of 80 MPH in the 55 MPH zone before crashing into a ditch on SR 350 near Walker Road.
Cooke was seriously injured in the crash. She was hospitalized with numerous injuries including hematomas to her legs, internal bleeding, and extreme pain, troopers said.
Kovats suffered a broken arm and contusion to her head. She later told the trooper she had a suspended license. State police also performed a blood draw which showed Kovats test positive for cannabinoids and oxymorphone.
Kovats has been held at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center since her arrest. She will be sentenced on Friday at 9:00 a.m. by Judge Jonathan Cleary.
Cooke, the passenger, died December 4. Doctors determined she did not die of the injuries suffered in the car crash, which prevented prosecutors from sharing Cooke’s death with the jury.
