A Gainesville woman facing multiple felony charges after an April rollover crash that resulted in a child being thrown from her pickup truck has been released from custody on her own recognizance under strict supervision, according to Ozark County court records.
Destiney Lynn Faye Bearden, 30, was released following a bond reduction hearing before Associate Circuit Judge Raymond Michael Gross. Bearden is charged with first-degree child endangerment resulting in serious physical injury, a class B felony; driving while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury, a class D felony; careless and imprudent driving involving a crash; driving a vehicle without financial responsibility; and failing to secure a child younger than 8 in a car seat, an infraction.
Under the terms of her supervised release, Bearden is restricted to a temporary residence in Ozark County and is required to report twice per week to Court Probationary Services for random drug and alcohol screenings. She is prohibited from leaving Missouri, consuming alcohol or unprescribed drugs and using recreational marijuana. Additionally, she must submit to random searches of her person, vehicle or home by law enforcement.
A probable cause statement submitted to Ozark County Prosecutor Curtis Pipkins details the investigation of the April 23 accident by Tpr. J.D. Lock. Lock is with Troop D of the patrol in Springfield, where Bearden and the child were transported for treatment following the crash.
Lock noted in his report he arrived at Cox South Medical Center to interview Bearden and was asked by Cpl. D.J. Johnson, Troop G, Willow Springs, to take a sample of her blood for testing. Johnson reported finding several containers of intoxicants in the cab of Bearden’s vehicle and said she appeared extremely impaired, but was unable to perform field sobriety tests because of her injuries.
In his initial report following the incident, Johnson stated the crash happened when a southbound 2007 Chevrolet Silverado operated by Bearden traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck a fence and overturned onto its top. A 5-year-old girl who was a passenger was shown in that initial report to have suffered minor injuries, while Bearden’s injuries were said to be moderate.
The child was flown via Cox AirCare helicopter to Cox South Hospital in Springfield with severe head, face and neck injuries. Bearden was transported to the same facility via ground ambulance.
During the course of investigation, Tpr. Lock spoke to the child at the hospital. He noted she had “obvious serious injuries” to her head, face and neck. She told him she was sitting in the front passenger seat of the pickup truck, wearing a seat belt, but not secured in a booster seat, as required by law for children younger than 8. As a result, Lock noted, when the crash happened, the girl was thrown from the truck, which then rolled and landed on her.
While interviewing Bearden at the hospital, Lock observed bloodshot eyes, glassy eyes and a faint odor of intoxicants on her breath.
Although Bearden denied consuming alcohol and claimed she had only taken a dose of DayQuil, a preliminary breath test performed more than three hours after the crash showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.046%. Bearden subsequently consented to a forensic blood draw, and the samples were forwarded to the Highway Patrol Crime Lab for analysis.
Bearden was taken into custody on May 18 after a warrant was served. She has pleaded not guilty through her defense attorney, Chase Opolka, and was scheduled to return to court for a criminal setting Tuesday afternoon; updates were not available as of press time. The case is being prosecuted by Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney Curtis Pipkins.
