Waukesha County fatal crash, woman charged in 2022 wreck
WAUKESHA, Wis. - A Watertown woman is now charged in a 2022 Waukesha County fatal crash.
Prosecutors accuse 47-year-old Staci Smail of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. The three-vehicle crash happened July 5, 2022 on I-94 eastbound near State Highway 83.
According to a criminal complaint, a Ford F-150 rear-ended a Honda. The Honda rotated counter-clockwise, and the Ford continued eastbound and struck a Hyundai. The Hyundai continued to cross the lane onto the left shoulder.
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A passenger in the back seat of the Honda died as a result of the crash.
The Ford F-150 driver was later identified as Smail. Per the complaint, the airbag control module of Smail's Ford determined she was driving 62 mph on cruise control roughly five seconds before the crash. The Ford's brake switch circuit remained "off" until 0.0 seconds when it was then recorded "on." The recorded speed of the vehicle at that time was 52 mph.
Traffic diverted off I-94 in Waukesha County due to crash (July 2022)
The airbag module from the Honda determined that, five seconds prior to the crash, the Honda's service brake was recorded "on" and the recorded speed was 21 mph. The airbag module for the Hyundai showed that five seconds prior to the crash, the Hyundai's service brake was recorded "on" and the recorded speed was 21 mph.
The complaint indicates Smail consented to a chemical test of her blood. The Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene reported 95 ng/mL of Venlafaxine was detected and O-desmethylvenlafaxine was also present in her system.
Smail provided a written statement. According to the complaint, that statement read: "I saw brake lights, started to slow down, and that's all I remember." During an interview with officials, she stated she "kept seeing a bunch of brake lights" and was "watching." She added she "looked away for a second, and the brake lights were right there."
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The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department Computer Forensic Lab completed an extraction of the data stored on Smail's cellphone. Detectives determined that Smail was on her phone leading up to the crash.
Video recordings from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation showed that there were no other vehicles between the Ford F-150 and the Honda and Hyundai that were slowing down ahead of her. The complaint states the Ford F150 was approximately 545 feet from the area of impact. Authorities report that traveling at a recorded 62 mph, the Ford, under 100% braking, would have had the capability to stop at approximately 171 feet – or 3.8 seconds. The trooper concluded that Smail had sufficient time and distance to react, brake and safely slow or stop behind the slowing/stopped eastbound traffic.
A guard rail repair project was underway at the time of the crash, causing backups and traffic to slow.