Shannon Hall

Journal & Courier

A woman involved in a fatal Warrick County wreck with a wrong-way driver smoked marijuana the day before the head-on collision, according to investigators.

Whitney Winstead, 20, was behind the wheel of a car involved in a wreck in the early morning hours of Dec. 17 on Indiana 62 near Stevenson Station Road. She has been charged with operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in the body, a misdemeanor.

"Preliminary results indicate she was impaired while she was driving," Warrick County Prosecutor Mike Perry said Tuesday.

The other driver in the case, 18-year-old Osiel Marroquin of Evansville, has been charged with reckless homicide. Police say Marroquin was legally drunk at the time of the wreck.

According to court documents, Marroquin was driving a red sport utility vehicle west in the eastbound lanes while Winstead was driving a black Dodge Avenger east to her home in Boonville. The crash killed one passenger in Winstead's car, 15-year-old Skyler Robinson-Williamson, a Boonville High School freshman; and injured a second passenger, Megan Ripperdan, a former Boonville High School student.

Winstead told deputies that she smoked marijuana before going to a mall Dec. 16.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Winstead said she felt "different" for an hour or two after smoking it. Deputies found a package for cigarillos, which included tobacco and an empty clear plastic sandwich baggie.

"She denied any further drug or alcohol use the evening of Dec. 16 or the morning of Dec. 17, prior to the time of the crash," the report states.

Warrick County Sheriff Brett Kruse said Winstead turned herself in at the Warrick County jail on Dec. 27 and was released last week after posting a $250 bond.

No court hearing had been set for Winstead as of Tuesday.

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