SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A toddler has become the third person to die from a weekend hit-and-run crash in South Bend.
Authorities say 17-month-old Isabelle Jasper died Thursday. She was a passenger in one of three cars involved in a crash near South Bend International Airport on Sunday. Police say a Dodge Avenger rear-ended another northbound car, sending that vehicle into southbound traffic.
Joel Barrozo is charged with five felonies, including two counts of leaving the scene of a fatal crash. The St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office says the charges could change after Isabelle’s death.
Barrozo is being held in jail on a $50,000 bond. He surrendered to police on Monday.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s officer has amended the chages Barrozo faces due to Jasper’s death.
The prosecutor’s office sent the following news release to 95.3 MNC:
Today the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office filed an amended Criminal Information against Joel Barrozo, 30, in cause number 71D02-1812-F5-000247. Count III has been amended to reflect the death of Isabelle Jasper, 17 months, who was declared deceased yesterday afternoon at Memorial Hospital. After an autopsy today, a forensic pathologist determined her cause of death to be a severed spinal column at C1 from a motor vehicle accident.
He is now charged with three counts of Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Death, a Level 5 Felony, and two counts of Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Serious Bodily Injury, a Level 6 Felony.
Bond was previously set at $50,000 cash. His initial hearing is scheduled for January 3, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. before the Honorable Judge Marnocha.
