FULTON COUNTY, Ind. – Nearly a year after Alyssa Shepherd drove past a stopped school bus, killing three siblings as they crossed a two-lane highway to board the bus, a Fulton County jury convicted her of reckless homicide in the children's deaths.

Shepherd, prosecutors say, was driving a pickup truck that struck and killed twins Xzavier and Mason Ingle, both 6, and their sister Alivia Stahl, 9, and also critically injured Maverik Lowe, 11, as they crossed the highway north of Rochester on Oct. 30. Lowe, who's still recovering from his injuries, has had more than 20 surgeries since the crash.

Shepherd was found guilty Friday of three felony counts of reckless homicide. The jury also found her guilty of a felony count of criminal recklessness and a misdemeanor count of passing a school bus causing injury when the arm is extended. She faces up to 21 years if given the maximum amount on each count.

The parents of Mason and Xzavier, Shane and Brittany Ingle, and Michael Stahl, Brittany's ex-husband and Alivia's dad, told reporters after the verdict that they were relieved, and have no sympathy for Shepherd, who they believe has shown no remorse for the crash.

"I don't think we'll ever feel closure," Brittany Ingle said. "But this will go toward healing."

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Shepherd and her attorneys quickly left the courtroom after the verdict was read early Friday evening and made no statement.

Earlier Friday, Shepherd took the stand in Fulton Superior Court. Family members of Shepherd and the victims, had filled the Fulton County courthouse this week to hear testimony from witnesses and law enforcement.

When asked by her attorney when it started to sink in that she’d hit and killed three children after driving past a school bus, Shepherd described emotions ranging from disbelief to hysteria.

But at first it was confusion, according to her testimony. She remembered seeing blinking lights and something that appeared to be a large vehicle. But she didn't see a bus, Shepherd says, nor did she see the red sign telling her to stop.

When she'd realized what she'd done, Shepherd says she was hysterical.

"The only way I can describe it is an out-of-body experience," Shepherd said, according to the account provided to IndyStar by the small number of reporters who were allowed into the packed courtroom, "I was a mess."

The four children were crossing the highway to board their school bus about 7:15 a.m. when prosecutors say Shepherd blew by a stopped school bus. The road was dark but prosecutors said the bus lights and stop arm were clearly visible.

Whether Shepherd was behind the wheel that morning was not being disputed, according to statements made from the defense and prosecution during the trial. Jurors instead decided whether Shepherd’s actions were reckless or simply accidental.

"The thing that makes me sick here," Fulton County Prosecutor Michael Marrs said, "is that this never should have happened."

The crash

Shepherd was driving with three children in the back seat of her Toyota Tacoma before the crash happened, according to court documents. She had just dropped off her husband at work at about 7:05 a.m. and was heading to her mother's home in the Rochester area to drop off her little brother when she rounded a bend on Indiana 25.

She'd taken that road many times before, her attorney Michael Tuszynski said, but rarely at that time of day.

As she was driving, the 24-year-old Shepherd saw something in the distance, but couldn't quite make it out, according to Tuszynski, who said that a freightliner was behind the bus, making it appear to Shepherd as one large vehicle.

"The circumstances of the bus, with the freightliner behind it, combined to create the profile of one vehicle, making it seem like it's a semi that's moving. And she's confused about what she sees," he said.

But after the crash, the driver of another vehicle that was following Shepherd's Toyota through the bend on Indiana 25 said the school bus lights and stop arm were clearly visible even though the road was dark. This is according to testimony from Indiana State Police detective Michelle Jumper during a probable cause hearing held hours after the crash.

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The witness said she and Shepherd were traveling at 45 mph, Jumper testified. The witness said she slowed when she saw the school bus and its blinking lights. Shepherd didn't.

"Suddenly she sees the children," Tuszynski said Friday. "She brakes. But it was too late."

Shepherd's friend, Brittany Thompson, who spoke to Shepherd on the phone after the crash, testified that Shepherd said she'd seen the lights and was trying to negotiate how far to move over.

Thompson said Shepherd was distraught.

"I didn't know it was a bus," Shepherd reportedly said.

The victims' family told reporters that Shepherd appeared cold during the trial, and seemed unconcerned with the deaths that resulted from her actions.

"When I was giving my testimony," Brittany Ingle said, "I looked her straight in the eyes and she gave nothing. She had no remorse."

'She totally stole their lives'

Tuszynski said there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in Shepherd's system at the time of the crash. He placed blame on the location of the bus stop, which required the children to cross the highway to board the bus.

"The idea that it was OK to make those kids cross that busy road to get on a bus, rather than move the stop into the (trailer) park, is absurd," Tuszynski said.

The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation announced shortly after the crash that it would relocate the bus stop into the trailer park where the students lived. Superintendent Blaine Conley testified Friday that the park had previously been considered for the location. But officials were worried that the school bus could hit children in the area due to poor lighting.

The crash led to statewide changes, prompting the Legislature to increase penalties for drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses. Shane and Brittany Ingle spent several days at the Statehouse this past year lobbying for the changes.

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The victims' family told reporters that Friday's verdict was important for everybody, not just her children, because it reinforces the importance of driving safely near school buses.

But the family noted somberly that neither the verdict nor the sentence would bring their three children back.

"They didn't even get time to enjoy life," Brittany Ingle said. "She totally stole their lives."

Contributing: Vic Ryckaert and Arika Herron. Follow Crystal Hill on Twitter: @crysnhill.