STILLWATER, Okla. — A woman faces second-degree murder charges after authorities say she plowed her car into the crowd at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade, killing four people including a toddler.

Adacia Chambers, a 25-year-old Stillwater resident, was arrested after Saturday’s crash on a driving under the influence charge, and police said Sunday she was being held on four additional counts of second-degree murder.

Chambers’ attorney, Tony Coleman, said at a news conference that his client did not smell of alcohol when he met her hours after the crash and did not appear to be someone who had been in a “drunken stupor.” Police are awaiting blood tests to determine if she was impaired by drugs or alcohol.

“I absolutely can rule out alcohol,” Coleman said, adding that he had spoken to her aunt, grandmother and boyfriend and all said she was not drinking.

He added it was his opinion that she suffers from a mental illness and said there were warning signs from her behavior before the crash, including an inability to sleep.

“She doesn’t remember a whole lot about what happened. There was a period where I think … she could have even blacked out,” Coleman said. Chambers only recalls people removing her from the car and being extremely confused, he said.

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Witnesses described a scene of chaos as bodies flew into the air from the impact and landed on the road. Three adults and a 2-year-old boy, who wasn’t immediately identified, were killed and at least 46 others were hurt, including at least four critically injured. Hospitals initially said five were critically injured, but one of those was upgraded to fair condition Sunday.

The dead adults were identified as Nakita Prabhakar Nakal, 23, an MBA student from India at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, and a married couple, Bonnie Jean Stone and Marvin Lyle Stone, both 65, of Stillwater. Marvin Stone was a retired professor of agricultural engineering, who had been popular with students, a colleague said.

“He was loved by students and one of the best teachers we had,” said Ron Elliott, the former head of the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department at OSU. “He just really had a gift for connecting with students and helping them learn,” Elliott said.

Among the injured were nine children 10 years old or younger.

At the corner of the intersection where the suspect’s car came to a stop, a makeshift memorial continued to grow Sunday with balloons, flowers, stuffed teddy bears and candles with black and orange ribbons tied around them, for the school’s colors. A handmade sign read, “It’s always darkest before dawn. Stay strong.”

Anthea Lewis had tears in her eyes as she placed a child’s hat with an Oklahoma State University logo at the base of the memorial. One of the injured had been a baby sitter for Lewis, she said.


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