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Jaliyah Z. Johnson

Age : 21

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/08/2021

Location : West 3rd 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 the police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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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. The driver was later identified as 23-year-old Joshua Brown of Springfield, Illinois.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/08/2021, 21-year-old Jaliyah Z. Johnson of Country Club Hills, Illinois, was killed with her 4-month-old baby, Jeremiah Zayarie Brown, when the BMW in which they were passengers crashed during a White County Sheriff’s Department pursuit in Brookston. Four other people in the BMW survived, including two other young children.
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The encounter 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.
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At approximately 11:00 p.m., the BMW continued west on State Road 18, crossed State Road 43 and entered 3rd Street at high speed. Witness Andrew Barbour, who lived near the crash scene, said he heard tires screeching and then the crash and saw a police vehicle approaching immediately behind the BMW.
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The BMW left the roadway, struck a tree and came to rest against an abandoned house near West 3rd Street and South Ripley Street. Jaliyah and Jeremiah were pronounced dead at the scene.
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The vehicle contained six people: the driver, Jaliyah, Jeremiah, a 21-year-old male passenger, a juvenile and a toddler. The juvenile was airlifted to a South Bend-area hospital, the toddler was airlifted to an Indianapolis-area hospital, and the adult male passenger was transported to a Monticello-area hospital.
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Police said the driver attempted to run from the crash scene but White County deputies apprehended him. Investigators later reported that he had been under the influence of a controlled substance.
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No public source located for this reconstruction identifies a PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact before the crash. The available reporting describes the BMW as traveling at high speed but does not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, the precise pursuit duration or distance, or the distance separating the pursuing deputy from the BMW immediately before it left the roadway.
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Jaliyah was born on 07/27/2000 and was only 21 when she died. Funeral-home records identify Jeremiah Zayarie Brown as her baby and state that he was born on 03/23/2021 in Springfield, Illinois. Mother and infant were memorialized together after their deaths.
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The White County Sheriff’s Department asked Indiana State Police to conduct the crash investigation. ISP identified Trooper Fike as the investigating trooper in its preliminary reconstruction.
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The surviving driver faced felony allegations including neglect of a dependent resulting in death, resisting law enforcement causing death, reckless driving causing death and operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death. The other adult passenger, Eric Stokes, faced a misdemeanor resisting-law-enforcement allegation.
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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 the pursuing deputy.

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/obituary/jaliyah-johnson