DUBOIS – A Johnsonburg woman who drove the wrong way on Interstate 80 causing an accident that killed a DuBois man was under the influence of a combination of drugs.
State police say that tests reveal Shara Marie Franco, 34, was under the influence of methamphetamine, amphetamine, Fentanyl and norfentanyl when she struck one vehicle and then a second vehicle head on and killing Ryan Muirhead, 43, on March 7 near mile-marker 99.
According to an affidavit filed Friday, the other three people in that vehicle received “serious life-altering injuries” in the accident.
A woman suffered internal injuries as well as a broken back and arm, a man was placed in a medically-induced coma because of the severity of his injuries and a six-year-old suffered two broken legs, a broken pelvis and a severe facial laceration.
The interstate was shut down for several hours to clear the roadway of the debris.
Franco is charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI, homicide by vehicle, four counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, and four counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, all felonies, and misdemeanor counts of DUI, involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person as well as 18 traffic summaries.
She is being held in the county jail in lieu of $75,000 bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday during centralized court in District Judge Pat Ford’s office.
The criminal complaint details how Franco was traveling west in the eastbound lane when her truck first hit one vehicle, then a second vehicle head on before coming to rest in the middle of the eastbound lanes.
She suffered injuries but was able to speak with police at the scene. She allegedly claimed she was not the one driving and said she was at a bus stop in Pittsburgh.
Although she agreed she was at that moment in the back of an ambulance, she believed the ambulance was in Pittsburgh.
As her blood was drawn for a test, she told a trooper the results would show she had methamphetamine and amphetamine in her system, according to the report.