Kaia Walls, 33, faces charges including three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of DWI causing death following a September 25 crash near Matthews, Missouri that killed three of her children.
Walls was driving an SUV on U.S. 61 when she attempted to pass a pickup truck. She struck the back of the truck, and her SUV went off the road and overturned multiple times. Three of her children died in the crash: a 9-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and a 13-year-old boy. A 15-year-old boy and a 62-year-old woman inside the SUV were injured, as was Walls.
Investigators determined Walls was intoxicated at the time. After receiving treatment for her injuries, Walls fled to Killeen, Texas, where Missouri State Highway Patrol located her with her father about 700 miles from the crash site. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested her on October 22.
Walls faces additional charges of first-degree assault, 13 counts of armed criminal action, two counts of DWI causing serious physical injury, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked into Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, and awaits extradition to Missouri.
U.S. Marshal Steven Lewis for the Eastern District of Missouri stated: "Fugitives who actively evade capture or try to avoid responsibility for their crimes should know there is no place to hide. We will find you and bring you to justice."
The pickup truck driver was uninjured. Authorities noted that the 62-year-old woman was the only person in either vehicle wearing a seat belt.