Search fatalities

Jeremiah Zayarie Brown

Age : 0.4

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/08/2021

Location : West Third Street and South Ripley Street

City : Brookston

County : White

State : Indiana

Agency : White County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed in police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Reported impaired driver. The White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible drunk driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located a black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west toward Brookston.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/08/2021, 4-month-old Jeremiah Zayarie Brown of Country Club Hills, Illinois, was killed with his mother, 21-year-old Jaliyah Z. Johnson, when the BMW in which they were passengers crashed during a White County Sheriff’s Department pursuit in Brookston.
.
Jeremiah had been born on 03/23/2021 in Springfield, Illinois. He was not yet five months old when he died. His funeral-home memorial identifies him as Jaliyah’s baby and memorialized mother and son together.
.
The pursuit began after the White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible impaired driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located the black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west on State Road 18 toward Brookston.
.
At approximately 11:00 p.m., the BMW crossed State Road 43 and continued onto 3rd Street at high speed. It left the roadway, struck a tree and came to rest against an abandoned house near South Ripley Street.
.
Jeremiah and his mother were pronounced dead at the scene. Four other people in the BMW survived, including another juvenile and a toddler who required helicopter transport to hospitals.
.
A witness living across from the crash scene reported hearing tires screeching before impact and seeing a police vehicle approaching behind the BMW immediately after the crash. Public reporting does not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, exact pursuit distance or duration, or the following distance between the deputy and the BMW when it crashed.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional contact between a sheriff’s vehicle and the BMW was identified in the available reporting.
.
Police said the surviving driver attempted to run from the crash scene but deputies apprehended him. Investigators subsequently reported that he had been under the influence of a controlled substance. He faced multiple felony allegations arising from the deaths and the pursuit.
.
Indiana State Police investigated the fatal crash at the request of the White County Sheriff’s Department. ISP identified Trooper Fike as the investigating trooper.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The White County Sheriff’s Department deputy or deputies who initiated and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the official release or contemporary reporting located for this reconstruction. Indiana State Police Trooper Fike investigated the crash but was not identified as a pursuing officer.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/illinois-woman-4-month-old-identified-as-victims-killed-in-crash-after-white-county-police-chase
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/intoxicated-driver-led-officers-in-pursuit-then-crashed-killing-baby-and-adult/531-a52dd332-a34d-46b3-b8d1-3ac03275307f
https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2021/08/09/two-killed-police-pursuit-ends-crash-white-county/5553487001/
https://fox59.com/news/isp-infant-adult-killed-when-pursuit-ends-with-crash-in-white-county/
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/INPOLICE/bulletins/2ebfd84
https://www.wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/2-dead-including-infant-after-white-county-pursuit-ends-in-crash/
https://www.smithandthomas.com/fh_live/15100/15133/media/Johnson-and-Brown-dual-obit.pdf