Shanel Smith Indianapolis Indiana drunk woman ditched in snow behind laundromat, left to die after hanging out with her friend, Justin Holman.
Why didn’t he know better? Unless he just didn’t care? An Indiana man had been charged with homicide for allegedly dragging a woman who was passed out drunk into a snowbank behind a laundromat and leaving her to die in the cold.
Justin Holman, 36, told police he dragged Shanel Smith, 50, into the snow behind an Indianapolis laundromat in February when she fell asleep after ‘hanging out and drinking’ in his car, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Security footage showed Holman dragging the female ‘friend’ out of a black sedan and tossing the extremely inebriated woman’s belongings next to her before driving off.
Holman was reportedly charged with reckless homicide on June 29, after an autopsy report found Smith, a mother of two, having died of ‘environmental cold exposure,’ which footage showed was allegedly due to the suspect’s intentional actions.
A toxicology report found the woman had a staggeringly high blood alcohol level of .3, nearly four times the legal limit.
Victim’s family respond to charges
Holman in his defence told cops Smith had dozed off and ‘would not wake up so he pulled her out of the vehicle and left,’ according to the Indy Star.
When pressed to explain why he abandoned his ‘friend’ behind the laundromat, rather then in front of the business where she could have been found by passersby, Holman was said to have replied that he did not remember.
Also not understood is why the ‘friend’ did not offer to drive Smith back to her home or let her sleep her binge off in his car or at his home? Which is to wonder, didn’t the man know by leaving the woman in the elements her life was being put in peril, or was that part of the intent?
Despite having been identified as a suspect just hours after Smith’s death, Holman was not arrested until July 1, with police attributing the months-long delay to investigative procedures.
The victim’s family told the Indy Star they were glad an arrest was finally made, but thought the charges against Holman should be more severe.
‘Everyone is very upset … that he is only locked up for a level 5 (felony),’ John Wallace, the father of Smith’s two children, ages 10 and 12, told the Star.
‘We are not very happy with the case so far,’ Wallace reportedly said. ‘My kids will never be able to see their mother ever again because of what he’s done.’
Holman is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on October 5.
