APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Irma Garcia pleaded not guilty Thursday in connection with a fatal crash in which she was allegedly driving 106 mph on a city street moments before impact.
Silia Hurula was killed in the Sept. 17 crash. Garcia is charged with first-degree reckless homicide.
No trial date was set. Garcia returns to court April 12 for a pre-trial conference.
According to the criminal complaint, crews were called to East Calumet and Oneida streets at 10:50 p.m., where one vehicle had rear-ended another, with the struck vehicle bursting into flames.
Tracking data from Garcia’s Saturn Aura showed it was traffic 106 mph 2-4 second before the crash, with the accelerator at 99% engaged.
“The brake was shown as not being used in this time period,” the complaint states.
Garcia denied drinking or taking drugs before the crash. She said she believed a car was following her.
“Eventually, Irma told Sgt. Kuether she took mushrooms around 2000 hours at her aunt’s house in Appleton. She said she took three grams of mushrooms, which was a decent amount. She said she was fine until she realized some shit and what they were doing. She said the mushrooms make her feel more open to things. Irma said she could feel the mushrooms when she was driving, but that wasn’t why she crashed though, rather it was because they were following her, and they were going to kill her or keep her hostage,” the complaint states.
Hurula died of “thermal injury and blunt force injuries,” according to the complaint.
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