Second Aston girl dies after being hit by car in May accident

SBT24/7 News and Tribune Staff Reports

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Shianna Aston

Shianna Aston (Photo provided)

By SBT 24/7 News

Story Created: Jul 8, 2009 at 6:44 AM EST

Story Updated: Jul 8, 2009 at 4:20 PM EST

The sister of a little girl killed in May when the two were struck by a car in Mishawaka has died, according to the Elkhart County Coroner’s Office.

Shianna Aston, 6, was critically injured in the May 7 accident that killed her 4-year-old sister Shayla. The two were hit by a car while crossing 11th Street at Dodge Avenue.

“We got a call that she had passed away at 5:35 this morning,” said Chief Deputy Coroner James Elliott of Elkhart County.

In St. Joseph County, Dr. Michael O’Connell told SBT24/7 News that he was notified immediately that the second Aston girl had died.

Shianna was at the Center for Hospice in Elkhart when she died, Elliott said.

She had been there for the past seven weeks, according to family friend Carrie Edwards, who said the family had decided to discontinue life support measures for Shianna after consultation with physicians and other professionals.

A neighbor of the family told the Tribune after the crash that Shianna had undergone two brain surgeries and had pins inserted in both legs to repair broken bones.

“She was a little trooper,” Edwards said Wednesday morning.

The driver, Leroy Hoover, 56, of the 1300 block of East 12th Street in Mishawaka, was questioned and released immediately after the accident, but authorities continue to investigate the death.

Last week, Catherine Wilson, St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office spokeswoman, said a private Indiana lab is now handling the toxicology testing and that prosecutors are awaiting results before deciding whether to file charges in the case.

Initially, samples for testing were sent to the state lab, Wilson said, but a testing backlog there resulted in an estimated delay of 12 to 18 weeks, which would have pushed a decision on charging back to at least early August.

Wilson said investigators are hopeful the switch will expedite the process.

An autopsy has not yet been scheduled, but Elliott said authorities hope to have more information after this afternoon.

“Obviously (the death is) presumed as a result of injuries from the motor vehicle accident in Mishawaka,” Elliott said.

“We’re working with the Mishawaka Police Department and the St. Joe County Coroner’s office to investigate.”

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