Victims’ family speaks out on fatal crash after police chase
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Side-by-side with her family, outside the hospital where her nephew was in critical condition, Renita Ingersoll tried to stay strong.
Ingersoll is the daughter of Donna Niblock, the 63-year-old woman who was killed in a crash Monday morning. Officials said a shoplifting suspect who was trying to get away from police crashed and killed Niblock and severely injured Niblock’s daughter and 11 year-old grandson.
“You don’t think you’re going to get a call and go to a hospital and find out that your mom’s dead,” Ingersoll said. “Now we have to worry about my sister’s emotional recovery, not just physical recovery.”
Now a memorial sits at the corner where the crash happened, reading “R.I.H. Donna. Gone but not forgotten.”
The family says Niblock’s daughter, LaDonna Rogers, is expected to recover. Her 11-year-old grandson was still critical Tuesday.
“We’ve all been praying. We just hope that everyone prays with us,” Ingersoll said.
The suspect is 21-year-old Matthew Edmonds. He was caught by police after trying to take off from the crash scene on foot.
Ingersoll’s sister, Beverly Shane, said she’s not sure if she can ever forgive Edmonds.
“We want to hate him. We want him to pay just like we are,” Shane said. “But it’s not what my mom would do. He could have just made a mistake.”
The family’s world changed forever Monday morning. They said they’ll need the strength that Niblock showed them when she raised the daughters on her own.
“She was full of life,” Ingersoll said. “She loved to be with her grandchildren. She loved to be with her daughters.”
Police said they cancelled their car chase about four minutes before the crash happened. IMPD said they weren’t chasing Edmonds when, according to a department official, he saw a police car near the intersection and sped up.
Ingersoll said the family doesn’t feel police should have done anything differently and she said the suspect is the one to blame.
She said both surviving victims had surgeries scheduled for Tuesday and they hoped to know more about their conditions by Tuesday night.