Lily Streeval
Bartholomew County prosecutors and the defense say they are prepared to go to trial in the case of a local man accused of striking and killing a 16-year-old girl with his car as she tried to get on her school bus.
The trial of Shiam Sunder Shankara Subramanian, 25, of 3224 Country Brook St., Columbus is expected to take one week after jury selection begins on Sept. 12 in Bartholomew Circuit Court, Judge Kelly Benjamin said.
The defendant was arrested following the Aug. 30 hit-and-run death of 16-year-old Columbus East High School student Lily J. Streeval. Investigators say he attempted to drive around a stopped Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. bus on South Gladstone Avenue while the warning lights were flashing and the arm signal was extended.
His Honda struck the victim as she was crossing the rural road to board the bus, court documents state.
A witness followed Subramanian as he left the scene, and the defendant was eventually caught after his vehicle became stuck in the yard of a law enforcement officer, police said. Streeval died at Columbus Regional Hospital of blunt force trauma to the cervical spine and chest, Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting said.
Subramanian, who was at Monday’s hearing, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury as a Level 4 felony and passing a school bus when its arm signal is extended and causing death as a Level 5 felony. If convicted on both counts, Subramanian could be sentenced to between three and 18 years in prison, as well as ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
A pre-trial conference to discuss evidence was scheduled to be part of Monday’s hearing, but defense attorney James H. Voyles asked for a postponement until an unfinished report had been completed and both sides have adequate time to read it, he said. While Voyles did not say what type of report it was, the defense recently received the court’s permission to have a private accident reconstructionist company examine the school bus and submit a report to the court.
During earlier hearings, Voyles and co-defense attorney Brittney Newland have stated that if their client remained unemployed for a period of time, he might be deported back to his native country, India. Subramanian is in the U.S. on a work permit, and was employed as an industrial quality control engineer until he was fired after the criminal charges were filed against him, according to previous court testimony.
Benjamin said she has talked extensively with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative. The judge said she has been assured there is no current effort to deport Subramanian, and none will be made until his legal case has been resolved.
The judge also spoke to the five members of the victim’s family in the courtroom Monday morning.
“This is a hard case, and I realize you don’t want these hearings to keep being continued,” the judge said. “But we have to make sure everything is exhausted (to avoid problems) in the appeals process.”
Benjamin also said all the courts are still trying to catch up on their caseloads after several court hearings were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
