Six-year-old dead, nine-year-old in critical condition after crash in Seymour

SEYMOUR – A six-year-old is dead, a nine-year-old in critical condition, and another child is injured after a crash in Seymour Thursday afternoon. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said they were called to the intersection of North County Road 100 East and East County Road 600 North at 5:11 p.m. Thursday on the report of a crash involving an SUV and a semitrailer in Hamilton Township.

Deputies responded alongside a PHI Statflight helicopter and an IU Health Lifeline helicopter. Upon the arrival of first responders, they found three passengers in a 2023 Ford Expedition driven by Kimberly Sullivan, 45, of Brownstown, sustained injuries, including 12-year-old Addi Sullivan and nine-year-old Archer Sullivan, both of Brownstown, and six-year-old Elijah Sullivan, of Freetown, according to a news release from Sheriff Rick Meyer. Elijah Sullivan was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, and CPR was being performed when county officers arrived, Meyer reported.

Elijah was transported to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by an official with the Jackson County Coroner’s Office. Archer Sullivan was treated by personnel with Jackson County Emergency Medical Services and Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department. He was then flown to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis by IU Health LifeLine, where he remains in serious condition.

Addi Sullivan was treated at the scene before being transported to Schneck. Kimberly Sullivan and the driver of the 2013 Freightliner, James Mattingly, 52, of Hardinsburg, both declined medical treatment but consented to toxicology tests, police said. The results are pending.

Sheriff Meyer said an investigation showed a Ford Expedition driven by Sullivan was traveling east on County Road 600 North, and the Freight Liner, driven by Mattingly, was traveling north on County Road 100 E. The cars collided at the intersection, sending the Ford off the north side of the road into a field and the Freight Liner off the east side into a utility pole. An Indiana State Police crash reconstructionist and an ISP commercial vehicle inspector were called to the scene.

The crash investigation is ongoing.

Personnel with Jackson County REMC, Morrison Auto Tech, and Salem Wrecker also assisted at the scene.