Ex-Marine sentenced in high speed crash that killed Fishers teacher, husband in 2022
Sarah NelsonINDIANAPOLIS — A former Marine who killed a Fishers kindergarten teacher and her husband after slamming into the couple’s vehicle at 78 mph has been ordered to spend five years behind bars.
Thursday, Marion Superior Judge Angela Davis sentenced Jaime Heredia Jr. for his two counts of reckless homicide in the deaths of Grant Lansdell, 56, and his wife, Ashley Lansdell, a 51-year-old teacher at Fall Creek Elementary School.
Davis sentenced Heredia to 10 years, five of which will be served in the Indiana Department of Correction and five years suspended. He also was ordered to serve three years on probation and undergo alcohol monitoring.
The hearing capped an emotional day of testimony from family members of the deceased, and a brief statement from Heredia.
Family remembers Grant Lansdell and Ashley Lansdell
“My mother was my best friend,” wrote Mia Ross, Ashley’ Lansdell’s daughter in a letter read in court. “She did not have a graceful end.”
Several family members on the stand recalled Ashley Lansdell’s passion for reading, teaching and Grant Lansdell’s love for music.
“You couldn’t talk to him without him bringing up music,” said Julie Lansdell, the couple’s daughter, noting he didn't always "have a way with words," but music was his form of communicating.
Family also described the couple's shared love for the Dave Matthews Band and many yearly traditions – all of which ended the day of the crash.
The crash that killed the Lansdells
Ashley Lansdell died roughly two weeks after the July 11, 2022 collision. According to police, Heredia drove into the couple’s Ford Fusion about 1 p.m. in the 8300 block of East 56th Street, near Glenn Road, in Lawrence.
The husband and wife were unconscious and entrapped after the impact. Police said the crash made the Ford Fusion unrecognizable. Grant Lansdell, who was driving, died at the scene.
Data pulled from Heredia’s vehicle showed he was driving 78 mph one second before the crash, nearly 40 mph over the speed limit, police said. He was driving a 2017 government-issued Ford Focus that he’d been given permission to use by a corporal with the Marine Corps, according to his arrest affidavit.
Investigators said Heredia called a corporal with the Marine Corps after the crash and asked them to remove a trash bag from the car and take it to a local recruiting office. The corporal later found the trash bag contained empty alcohol drink boxes and a flask with an unknown liquid inside. The corporal notified his supervisor.
Heredia was a sergeant with the Marine Corps at the time of the crash. A spokesperson with the 9th Marine Corps District previously told IndyStar that Heredia was administratively separated military in August after the fatal collision.
In a tearful message to the court, Heredia, a husband and father to two young children, expressed remorse and asked the Lansdell family for forgiveness.
“After the accident, I asked God why I didn’t die,” he said. “I hated myself.”
Judge Davis acknowledged Heredia’s military service and lack of criminal history before she made her decision, but said the aggravating factors in the crash outweighed the others.
“You didn’t even attempt to swerve,” Davis said. “And the fact that you called someone to hide the evidence, that’s appalling to the court.”
Heredia’s four intoxicated driving-related charges were dismissed as part of his plea, though Davis said Thursday she believes alcohol played a factor in the crash.
The sentence was ultimately lower than what Marion County prosecutor’s request for eight years in prison and two years’ probation.
After leaving the courtroom, Pat Ross, Ashley Lansdell’s father, said it’s not the fullest sentence they wanted.
“If that’s the best we got, we got it,” he said. “That’s the best we can do.”
Jake Allen contributed to this report.
Contact IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson at [email protected]