By Ruth Ann Krause
Post Tribune
LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — Lake Superior Court jurors heard from witnesses who happened upon a 2012 hit-and-run crash that killed one Lake County correctional officer and injured three others near the Lake County Government Center.
Those witnesses — from county employees to concerned citizens — testified Tuesday at the reckless homicide trial of Jason Cozmanoff, 43, of Lakes of the Four Seasons. Cozmanoff, who has pleaded not guilty before Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez, also is charged with criminal recklessness, failure to stop after an accident resulting in death and failure to stop after an accident resulting in serious bodily injury.
Lake County police Capt. Milan Trisic of the crime scene investigations unit said he was leaving his office on the north side of 93rd Avenue for a dinner break about 7 p.m. March 6, 2012, when he saw people on the grass on the south side. He got out of his car and first encountered David Murchek, now a county police officer, on the grass south of the four-lane street. Trisic said Murchek asked him to look for his colleague, Britney Meux.
The four officers had worked out at the gym and were running single-file east on 93rd Avenue and to the right of the white fog line on a brief stretch of 93rd Avenue when they were hit at about 6:53 p.m. The impact was west of the north entrance to the government complex by the administration building.
Meux, 25, died at the scene. Murchek, Delano Scaife and Latasha Johnson were injured.
Full story: Colleagues testify in hit-and-run that killed county correctional officer