MUNCIE, IN — A Hendricks County resident faces a felony charge stemming from an April 2025 crash near Yorktown that caused a Texas man’s death.
Brett Matthew West, 51 — of Brownsburg, about 75 miles southwest of Muncie — was charged on Wednesday, May 13, in Delaware Circuit Court 3 with causing death when driving with a controlled substance in the blood, a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison.
According to an affidavit, West was driving in western Delaware County on April 12, 2025, when his vehicle left Indiana 32 near Priest Ford Road and struck a utility pole.
A passenger in the vehicle, 34-year-old Adam Hamilton Ross, of Carlsbad, Texas, suffered severe head injuries and later died, apparently at an Indianapolis hospital.
West told Delaware County sheriff’s deputies he had fallen asleep while driving and also said he had suffered two strokes in the past year. The crash was reported to emergency dispatchers at 1:34 p.m.
The Brownsburg man was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital for a blood draw. According to the charging documents, tests showed West had cocaine “and/or” meth in his system at the time of the crash.
An “unlabeled” pill bottle containing a prescription medication was also found in his vehicle, leading to the filing of a misdemeanor charge, possession of a controlled substance.
West also faces three counts, filed in Hendricks Superior Court 5 in February: possession of cocaine, unlawful possession of a syringe and possession of marijuana.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Hendricks County man charged in fatal Delaware County crash
Reporting by Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
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