Passenger sentenced after chase and accident resulting in death

INDIANAPOLIS – One of the two people charged in connection with a 2023 chase and subsequent crash that killed Indiana State Police Trooper Aaron Smith has been sentenced to prison.

On June 17, Demareon Curry was sentenced to the maximum term of two and a half years in the Department of Correction for pleading guilty to a charge of resisting police.

The Hendricks County prosecutor said a judge considered Curry’s “extensive and violent” juvenile delinquency history an aggravating circumstance.

“Today, the case against Mr. Curry is closed,” said District Attorney Loren Delp. “The court saw through Mr. Curry’s feigned remorse and recognized him for what he is: a violent criminal. Although Curry may not have been driving the vehicle when Trooper Smith was killed, he is morally responsible for his death.”

Prosecutors said Curry, a passenger in the car, ordered the driver to flee during a traffic stop.

Eddie Jones is currently facing charges of murder, resisting police and auto theft. A motion titled “intent to seek life imprisonment without parole” was filed in Hendricks County, online court records state.

Jones, 18, of Missouri, was allegedly driving a stolen 2016 Chevrolet Traverse that struck and killed Smith on June 28, 2023, as the officer attempted to use a device to deflate a tire on the Ronald Reagan Parkway near Interstate 70.

A 15-year-old girl who was reported missing in Missouri was turned over to that state’s authorities and was not charged in connection with the incident.

According to court documents, police received a notification from a flock camera system alerting them to the vehicle. Officer Grover Scott spotted the SUV in a parking lot on Kentucky Avenue and ordered the vehicle’s occupants to put their hands out the window. Scott said the vehicle’s occupants complied with the instruction for several minutes before the driver put the car in reverse, drove into Scott’s patrol car and then fled the scene, striking another vehicle.

Jones allegedly told police that Curry told him to run from police at a McDonald’s and that if he got onto I-70, police would end the pursuit. The girl allegedly told investigators that she and Curry told Jones, “Do what you gotta do, man,” and so he decided to take off, documents say.

Smith got out of his vehicle to deploy stop sticks and was struck by the suspect vehicle at around 8:45 p.m.

Smith, 33, was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter confirmed late in the evening that Smith had succumbed to his injuries.

Carter said Smith has been with the ISP for about five years. He joined the department in 2018 but left for a while before returning to the police force.

“He was a shining star for the state police,” Carter said.

Smith, who lived in Franklin, Indiana, is survived by his wife, Carter said.