One indiana man A man will spend four decades in prison after driving his truck into a shallow river while under the influence of marijuana and methamphetamine — though bystanders were able to save the father, his two-year-old daughter, Emma Sweet, drowned in the vehicle.
Jeremy Sweet, 41, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for neglect of a dependent and an additional 10 years for a habitual offender enhancement after pleading guilty to both charges Tuesday. WRTV reported,
Emma may have died on Thanksgiving Day in 2021. She and her father were last seen together on November 24, 2021. reported missing the next day, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Emma Sweet was reported missing after her father picked her up from her mother’s home on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, and never returned. Her body was found by divers in the White River on November 26. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
Indiana girl Emma Sweet’s death due to drowning declared homicide: coroner
After being rescued from the truck by duck hunters on Nov. 26, 2021, Sweet told investigators he had driven a friend to work, lost his way in some fields, took a wrong turn onto a dirt road and accidentally ended up in the east side of the White River.
Fox News Digital previously reported that the two-year-old’s body was recovered by divers on November 28 and that he had possibly died on Thanksgiving Day. Law enforcement officials determined that the river was three to five feet deep at the location where the truck submerged and they believe Sweet drove his vehicle into the water from an embankment 15 to 20 feet above the river.
The girl’s official cause of death was given as “complications of hypothermia and asphyxiation due to drowning”, and it was ruled a homicide. Fox 59 reported,
According to the station, Sweet, 41, was later charged with two felonies: neglect of a dependent causing death and illegal possession of a syringe. At the time he was pulled from the water, he was out on bail for charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a serious violent offender and possession of methamphetamine, the sheriff’s office said.
Jeremy Sweet, 41, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count each of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and a habitual offender enhancement for drug-related offenses. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
2-year-old Indiana girl found dead in river days after disappearing with father
In an interview with detectives the day after his daughter’s body was found, Sweet admitted he was high on meth and marijuana when he drove the car into the river.
She then gave several different accounts of the incident. In one statement, Sweet told investigators she had dropped her daughter off somewhere before the truck plunged into the water. Later, her story changed, and she admitted the girl was in the car at the time.
Investigators said the river was three to five feet deep where the truck submerged, and they believe Jeremy Sweet drove the vehicle into the river from an embankment that was 15 to 20 feet high. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
Father of 2-year-old Indiana girl found dead in river told police ‘conflicting stories’: report
“Jeremy stated that water was coming into the truck, so he put Emma on the hood or roof of the truck,” the affidavit reads. “Jeremy stated that he and Emma fell into the water.”
In another version, Sweet said he grabbed his daughter and climbed onto the truck’s roof before it fell into the water. Then, Sweet said, he put his daughter alone on the roof and fell asleep. When he woke up, the girl was missing, he said.
Sweet said he last saw the girl on the roof of the truck “calling for her mother.” Indianapolis Star informed of.
The body of two-year-old Emma Sweet was recovered on November 28, 2021, two days after her father was rescued from the submerged vehicle. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
At the crash site, investigators noticed that one of the truck’s windshield wipers was bent, looking “like someone was hanging on to it,” former Sheriff Matt Myers said in 2021 during the search for the girl, according to Republic,
Police later learned that Sweet had gone to a casino in nearby Shelbyville with two friends the day before the crash, and had brought his daughter to Columbus from her mother’s house on Thanksgiving Day when her mother had to go to work.
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Sweet became emotional at the sentencing and apologized to his ex-wife for the loss of their daughter.
“There’s nothing I can say to change what happened,” he said, according to courtroom reporting by The Republic. “But I swear to God that I love everything I can and I’m so sorry.”
