Lawyer: OSU Crash Suspect Is Mentally Ill

He says she didn't sleep for 3 days before plowing into crowd
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2015 1:21 AM CDT
Updated Oct 26, 2015 6:17 AM CDT
Lawyer: OSU Crash Suspect Is Mentally Ill
Oklahoma State students read messages on a memorial in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday.   (EDMOND SUN OUT, OKLAHOMA GAZETTE OUT)

The woman accused of driving into an Oklahoma State University homecoming parade is clearly mentally ill and has no memory of the crash that killed four people and injured dozens more, her lawyer says. "I have deep concerns about her competency at this point," attorney Tony Coleman tells the Oklahoman. "I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I can tell you she's suffering from mental illness." Coleman says he believes 25-year-old Adacia Chambers suffered some kind of blackout because of her illness and has no memory of the crash or of the hour leading up to it, during which she left her job at a fast-food restaurant soon after arriving. Three adults and a 2-year-old boy were killed in the crash, and four of the 47 people injured are in critical condition, CNN reports.

Chambers has been charged with four counts of second-degree murder. She also faces a DUI charge, but Coleman says nobody saw her drink or take drugs before the incident and she showed no sign of having been under the influence when he first saw her on Saturday, though he says he wasn't satisfied he was dealing with "a competent person," KFOR reports. The lawyer says he has spoken to her boyfriend, who told him she has diabetes but isn't being treated for it, and that she also suffers from insomnia and didn't sleep for three days before the crash, per the Oklahoman. Coleman says the boyfriend has told him Chambers has attempted suicide before, but he doesn't believe she was trying to kill herself when she allegedly plowed into the OSU crowd. (More car crash stories.)

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