INDIANAPOLIS — The family of a mother and twin girls killed in a fiery crash over the weekend in Indiana issued a statement on Tuesday thanking first responders and the public for their support.
Alanna Norman Koons, 29, and her 18-month-old twin daughters Ruby and June, were killed when a semi slammed into stopped traffic on I-465 on Sunday afternoon in an Indianapolis construction zone.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement on behalf of the Koons family Tuesday afternoon along with photos of the family.
You can read the full statement below.
At this extremely difficult time we would like to express our gratitude to all of those who have reached out to our family following the tragic loss of Alanna, June and Ruby. They were all loved dearly by their family and friends, and they will be greatly missed. We are broken-hearted by their loss but sustained by our faith. We believe in a loving Heavenly Father who comforts his children in the midst of their most painful trials. We are steadfast and confident in knowing that our family will be reunited in the life to come. We thank the police, other first responders, friends, family and the media for their kind words about these wonderful girls and their mother. We trust you will allow us private time to mourn.
The driver of the semi also injured seven other people and gave police several different stories about what happened in the moments before the crash, according to court documents.
Bruce Pollard, 57, was driving on I-465 around noon when Indiana State Police say his semi ran into stopped traffic in a construction zone.
During his initial interview with investigators, Pollard said that a driver had cut him off and he had to slam on his breaks, court documents say. He also said he was only going 30 to 35 miles per hour, although he admitted that he had not looked at his speedometers.
Pollard gave police other reasons for the crash as well. At one point he told detectives he had reached for an iced tea and took his eyes off the road for a moment before realizing traffic was stopped in front of him.
Preliminary information downloaded from Pollard's semi showed he was going 65 miles per hour at the time of the crash in the 45-mile-per-hour construction zone and he did not hit his brakes until after he had already hit the vehicle in front of him. When confronted with that information, Pollard admitted that he "guesses" he was going too fast and he did not mean to strike the other vehicles, according to those court documents.
According to those same court documents, Pollard told police he was going "no faster than" 35 miles per hour.
Investigators said Pollard showed no remorse or emotion after being told that a family had died and several other people were seriously injured.
"Mr. Pollard was only concerned for his belongings, medicine and what hotel that we were dropping him at," the documents state.
Pollard was arrested Sunday evening for reckless homicide and criminal recklessness.