Benton County, IN (August 12, 2026) – A 43-year-old Wolcott woman was killed Wednesday morning when her car, stopped for highway maintenance, was rear-ended on State Road 18, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Department.
The crash happened just before 10 a.m. on westbound State Road 18 at County Road 1200 East. Deputies said 43-year-old Kacy J. Cunningham of Wolcott was stopped for an INDOT flagger when her car was struck from behind by an SUV driven by 39-year-old Jacob A. Morris of Peru.
Cunningham was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger in her car, 40-year-old Nathan P. Christner of Wolcott, was found unconscious and taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries has not been released.
Morris refused medical treatment at the scene. State Road 18 was closed for more than two hours while an Indiana State Police reconstruction team investigated.
This is a developing story. Details may change as the investigation continues.
Fatal Car Accidents in Indiana
A rear-end collision into a vehicle that has already stopped, whether for traffic, a flagger, or a red light, points to a narrow set of causes: following too closely, distraction, or failing to slow for a work zone. Investigators will look closely at all three here.
- Request the full crash reconstruction report once the Indiana State Police release it
- Ask whether INDOT’s work zone signage and flagger placement met state standards, since that record can matter even in a rear-end case
- Preserve the involved vehicles before repairs or salvage, since damage patterns often confirm speed and impact angle
- Talk with an attorney before accepting any settlement, especially with two injured people from the same household involved
Indiana follows a modified comparative fault rule (IC 34-51-2-6): a surviving family, or an injured passenger like Christner, can recover damages as long as they are found less than 51% at fault, with the award reduced proportionally. A rear-end crash into a stopped vehicle generally favors the driver who was struck, but that determination still has to be made formally.
Indiana’s wrongful death statute gives a family two years from the date of death to file a claim (IC 34-23-1-1), and the same two-year window applies to Christner’s personal injury claim (IC 34-11-2-4). For this crash, both deadlines fall on August 12, 2028.
Contact Our Indiana Car Accident Attorneys
Stopping for a road crew is something drivers do every day without a second thought, which makes it that much harder for a family to process losing someone to a crash that happened while she was simply waiting her turn.
Langer & Langer has represented Indiana families in fatal crash claims for more than 45 years. An Indiana car accident lawyer from our firm can begin preserving the reconstruction findings and work zone records now, while the investigation is still fresh.
Evidence from a work zone crash, including flagger positioning and any prior complaints about that stretch of SR 18, can be harder to obtain the longer a case sits.
We work on contingency, so there is no upfront cost to the family and nothing owed unless we recover.
Why Indiana families trust Langer & Langer:
- Founded in 1980, serving Indiana families for more than 45 years
- 100+ years of combined legal experience among our attorneys
- Recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, and the American College of Trial Lawyers
