Heritage Lake man charged in fatality appears in court

A Heritage Lake man, charged with causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of .15 percent or greater, has bonded out of Putnam County Jail.

Alexander P. King, 28, who turned himself in at the Putnam County Jail Monday evening after a warrant had been issued for his arrest, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf Wednesday afternoon by Putnam Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges during the defendant's initial hearing.

In addition to the alcohol-related count, King, of 146 Lincoln Hills, Coatesville, is also charged with reckless homicide for being behind the wheel of a 1997 BMW when it crashed near Bainbridge in an April 4 accident that claimed the life of Brownsburg High School teacher Megan Witty, 29, Coatesville.

Although police reports have listed Witty as King's fiancee, other sources have revealed that the two were legally married and had planned a formal ceremony for later this year.

Causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .15 or greater is a Level 4 felony, punishable by 2-12 years in prison, while reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony, is punishable by 1-6 years.

Judge Bridges ordered King's bond set at $30,000, which is customary in a Level 4 felony case, with 10 percent allowable. King, who has no previous record, was not considered a flight risk, authorities noted.

King, who was represented in court by attorney Michael Stites of Parke County, posted a $3,000 cash bond later Wednesday and has been released from PCJ, pending a pretrial conference set for 9 a.m. June 19.

As a condition of King's bond and release, Putnam County Prosecutor Timothy Bookwalter asked that the defendant's license be suspended.

Judge Bridges complied with that and also ordered King to be placed on a Sober Link alcohol-monitoring home-detention unit.

"What that means, Mr. King, is not only can you not drive," the judge stressed, "but you also cannot drink."

Witty died at the scene from head trauma in the April 4 accident on U.S. 36, east of Bainbridge, after the westbound car left the roadway and crashed about 6 p.m.

The probable cause affidavit filed in the case asserts that King operated the vehicle "in a reckless manner by driving at a high rate of speed and passing on a double-yellow line, causing the death of Megan Witty."

Authorities also allege King had a blood-alcohol content of .17 percent at the time of the fatal accident, as documented in the toxicology report.

Accident reconstruction by Indiana State Police expert, Trooper Jim Cody of the Putnamville Post, estimated the BMW was traveling a "minimum of 79 mph" in a 55-mph zone when the car went into a slide as King allegedly attempted to pass a truck in a double-yellow zone east of Bainbridge. He reportedly lost control of the car in failing to negotiate a curve just west of the bridge over Big Walnut Creek.

The car slid approximately 380 feet, "violently flipping" several times and twice striking a limestone/earthen retaining wall before coming to rest on the shoulder along the north side of the highway, the accident report states.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident. No mechanical abnormalities were discovered in the BMW during its inspection, the probable cause affidavit noted.

The crash caused extensive passenger-side damage to the car, authorities reported, which resulted in the death of Witty.

King, meanwhile, was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated before being flown via medical helicopter to St. Vincent Hospital at Indianapolis. He sustained only minor injuries.