YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A Youngstown woman is facing charges for a fatal crash in Lawrence County in 2021.
Charges against Shasta Sapp, 33, were filed Wednesday in Lawrence County. Sapp faces charges of homicide by vehicle, endangering the welfare of children, reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter for the crash on Aug. 25, 2021, that killed Nancy Black, of Pulaski Township.
The accident happened just before 10 a.m. in the area of 4406 West State Street in Mahoning Township, just over the Ohio border.
Investigators told WKBN that the crash happened when traffic was stopped to allow an oversized truck to get on the roadway. About 15 cars were stopped when a Chevrolet Cobalt rear-ended a Kia Soul, which then rear-ended a Chevrolet Trax, according to investigators.
According to a criminal complaint in the case, Black, the driver of the Kia, was unconscious when rescue crews arrived, and they could not revive her at UPMC Jameson Hospital.
The driver of the Trax told investigators that the driver of the Cobalt, later identified as Sapp, was driving at a high rate of speed and did not stop, crashing into the Kia Soul, which then pushed into his vehicle, causing damage.
Sapp, who had her daughter in the car with her at the time, was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital with injuries. The girl was also taken for an evaluation.
The criminal complaint states that due to Sapp’s potentially severe injuries, no sobriety tests were administered at the scene, and her statements couldn’t be taken at the scene.
Investigators later seized Sapp’s phone and searched her car. They reported finding naloxone, an opioid-reversal drug, in the vehicle that Sapp was driving. A urine screen from the hospital showed positive results for methadone, opiates and fentanyl, according to the complaint, but medical records showed that she received fentanyl from crews during her transport to the hospital.
The complaint also noted that there was no evidence that Sapp had been using her cell phone at the time of the crash.
Investigators estimated that she was traveling between 69 to 83 miles per hour at the time of impact — over the posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour.
