An Indiana man will spend 40 years in prison for driving his truck into a shallow river while under the influence of marijuana and methamphetamine. Passersby rescued the father, but his 2-year-old daughter, Emma Sweet, drowned inside the vehicle.
Jeremy Sweet, 41, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for neglecting a dependent and an additional 10 years for being an aggravated habitual offender after pleading guilty to both charges Tuesday. WRTV reported.
Emma likely died on Thanksgiving Day in 2021. According to the affidavit, she was last seen with her father on Nov. 24, 2021, and was reported missing the following day.
Emma Sweet was reported missing after her father picked her up from her mother’s house on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, and never returned. Her body was discovered by divers in the White River on Nov. 26. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
Indiana girl Emma Sweet’s death ruled drowning, homicide: coroner
After being rescued from his truck by duck hunters on Nov. 26, 2021, Sweet told investigators he was taking a friend to work but got lost in a field, took a wrong turn on a dirt road and accidentally fell into the east fork of the White River.
The 2-year-old’s body was recovered by divers several days later on November 28, indicating he likely died on Thanksgiving Day, Fox News Digital previously reported. Police determined the river the truck was in was 3 to 5 feet deep and they believe Sweet drove the vehicle into the river from an embankment 15 to 20 feet above the waterline.
The girl’s official cause of death was listed as “complications of hypothermia and asphyxiation due to drowning” and was ruled a homicide. FOX 59 reported..
Sweet, 41, was subsequently charged with two felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and unlawful possession of a syringe, according to the sheriff’s office. At the time he was pulled from the water, Sweet was out on bond for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of methamphetamine, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jeremy Sweet, 41, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count each of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and aggravated habitual drug offender. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
2-year-old Indiana girl found dead in river days after going missing with father
During an interview with detectives the day after his daughter’s body was discovered, Sweet admitted to being high on methamphetamine and marijuana when he crashed his car into the river.
Sweet then gave several different accounts of what happened. In one account, Sweet told investigators he had dropped his daughter off somewhere before the truck went into the water. He then changed his story and admitted his daughter was in the vehicle at the time.
Investigators say the river the truck was in was 3 to 5 feet deep and that suspect Jeremy Sweet drove the vehicle into the river from a 15 to 20 foot high embankment. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
Father of 2-year-old girl found dead in Indiana river gives ‘conflicting stories’, police detained, reports say
“Jeremy stated that water was getting into his truck so he put Emma on the hood or roof of his truck,” the affidavit states. “Jeremy stated that he and Emma fell into the water.”
Another version states Sweet grabbed his daughter, climbed onto the roof of his truck and dropped her into the water, then went to sleep with her alone on the roof, and when he woke up, she was gone.
Sweet said he last saw the girl on the roof of the truck “calling for her mother.” Indianapolis Star report.
The body of 2-year-old Emma Sweet was recovered on Nov. 28, 2021, two days after her father was rescued from a submerged vehicle. (Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office)
At the scene of the crash, investigators found one of the truck’s windshield wipers was bent, “as if someone had been hanging on to it,” former Sheriff Matt Myers, who was searching for the girl in 2021, was quoted as saying. Republic.
Police later learned that Sweet had been at a casino near Shelbyville with two friends the day before the crash, and had been in Columbus on Thanksgiving to pick up his daughter from her mother, who was at work.
Click here to get the FOX News app
During the sentencing, Sweet became emotional and apologized to his ex-wife for the loss of their daughter.
“There’s nothing I can say to change what happened,” he said, according to The Republic’s court report, “but I swear to God, on behalf of everything I love, I am truly sorry.”
