A truck driver has been charged with multiple offenses after a wreck that killed a young boy while violating HOS rules.
The July 2024 crash on Interstate 465 near Old US 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana in a construction zone. The crash killed 9-year-old Eamon Goodrich, injured his 5-year-old sister, and trapped his father, Chris, in the crushed vehicle. Chris is still struggling with injuries to his brain, eyes, and vocal cords from the accident.
According to Fox 59, Truck driver Dieuson Leron was unable to stop for backed up traffic in a construction zone, causing him to slam into the back of the Goodrich family’s Honda Civic. The Civic was pushed into another vehicle and the tractor trailer jackknifed and slammed into another semi truck.
When police arrived, Leron told them “I was coming up the ramp, traffic slowed down a little too much, I tried to slow down, but I ended up swerving. I was about to slam on the brakes and my trailer went around me.”
Leron’s traffic camera recorded the incident, but was angled too high to get a good view of the traffic. His speed was recorded at 62mph in the seconds before the collision. The speed limit in the construction zone was 45 mph, reported WRTV Indianapolis.
Police noted that Leron had a dog riding with him, and that he had two cell phones and a laptop out at the time of the crash. Further investigation revealed that Leron “continued to drive for another 23 minutes” after he was supposed to stop for his ten, violating HOS rules. Leron told police that he was supposed to have a co-driver with him, but that the driver was on vacation.
The police report found Leron at fault, describing him as “following too closely” at an “unsafe speed.”
Forward A2B Inc., the trucking company Leron was driving for at the time of the crash, was placed out of service approximately 3 months after the crash. The Goodrich family filed a lawsuit against Leron, Forward A2B, and the truck owner, Solomon Bros LLC, in December 2024. The lawsuit alleges that Leron did not have a valid Commercial Driver’s License at the time of the crash, “carelessly and negligently followed too closely” and “failed to reduce his speed.” Leron did possess a valid Texas CDL at the time of the crash.
Truck driver Dieuson Leron was charged with reckless homicide and two counts of criminal recklessness on Thursday, February 27th, 2025. There is now a warrant out for his arrest. He could face up to 6 years in prison.