Oklahoma woman charged with killing four at parade pleads not guilty

By Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton

TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) – A woman charged with killing four people and injuring more than 40 others by plowing her car into a crowd at Oklahoma State University’s 2015 homecoming parade entered a plea of not guilty at a court in Stillwater on Wednesday.

No date has been set for the trial of Adacia Chambers, 25, who faces four counts of second-degree murder and 42 counts of assault and battery.

Chambers has been accused of driving her car around a police barricade and over spectators at the university’s annual homecoming parade, and killing three adults and a toddler.

According to court documents, she told Stillwater jail staff that she was suicidal at the time of the collision but not when she was booked a few hours later. Chambers’ attorney and relatives have said she has a history of mental illness.

She was declared competent to stand trial in December.

Her lawyers have said she has little comprehension of what happened in the crash.

Having waived her preliminary hearing, Chambers’ next court appearance is scheduled for May 13, where her attorney is expected to ask for additional funds to secure expert witnesses. A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 1, court officials said.

(Reporting by Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton; Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Toni Reinhold)