LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The owner of the Heavenly Angels daycare -- the daycare involved in a fatal van crash last month -- has been indicted for fraud and theft by deception, after grand jurors say she may have received more than $300,000 of state funds she was not entitled to.
The Heavenly Angels daycare center closed last month, after its van crashed into a tree right around the corner, killing the monitor, Tiffany Belk, and sending 15 others to the hospital. The indictment is not related to the crash.
On Thursday afternoon, a grand jury returned true bills on the two charges against owner Lavonia Lewars.
The indictment reads as follows:
"The Grand Jurors of the County of Jefferson, in the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, charge:
COUNT ONE: That on or between the 1st day of January, 2011, through the 31st day of December, 2011, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, the above named defendant, Lavonia Lewars, committed the offense of Fraudulent Scheme or Plan to Obtain Public Assistance Benefits, when, with intent to defraud or deceive, she knowingly devised a scheme or planned a scheme or artifice to obtain benefits from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Child Care Assistance Program by means of false or fraudulent representations or she engaged in conduct that advanced the scheme or artifice and as a result, received $306,187.78 in funds to which she was not entitled.
COUNT TWO: That on or between the first day of January, 2011, through the 31st day of December, 2011, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, the above named defendant, Lavonia Lewars, committed the offense of Theft by Deception Over $10,000 by obtaining property or services from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Child Care Assistance Program, or a value of $10,000 or more, by creating or reinforcing a false impression, including false impression as to law, value, intention or other state of mind, with intent to deprive the Commonwealth of Kentucky thereof."
The details of her alleged fraudulent scheme are unclear.
June 12, 2012: A Tragic Accident
The accident took place on June 12, 2012.
Neighbors heard a loud bang around 5:15 that evening, and saw children crying, so they rushed in to help.
One man said he immediately recognized the van.
Sherman King's four children attended Heavenly Angels Daycare, and just 15 minutes before the crash, the van dropped his kids at home.
King says, "I'm just grateful my kids are fine and my prayers are with families of everybody that was on that van. I hope everybody is alright."
People with no connection to those in the van helped police and firefighters pull them out of the wreckage, and into the ambulance.
Police say the driver lost control of the van.
Three saviors
Three men were driving on Algonquin Parkway and witnessed the crash. They quickly sprung into action, helping pull each child out.
James Jaggers says, "We started getting them out and I made my way back to the second and third row and I promised her I'd get her out. I feel so bad. I'm so sorry for those people. I know how it is, I just did anything I could."
James Jaggers says he tried his best to help two adults and 14 children in the Heavenly Angels Daycare van. He and his son Austin and friend Nick Sivado were the first to help after the crash on Algonquin Parkway.
They say they saw the van head towards their car, cut across and hit a tree. For these men, their first instinct was to get the people to safety. James Jaggers says, "My son is a big strapping kid. He was trying to tear those seats out in the back of the van, it's hard. Like I said, it's a bad, bad thing."
Nick Sivado says, "God put me there for that reason actually." Austin Jaggers says, "I'm not glad to witness that, just glad to help out."
The family says this crash hits close to home since three years ago, James' brother died in a similar crash after hitting a tree.
The men describe the daycare crash as a very chaotic and bloody scene where the children were badly injured. James Jaggers says, "It's hard to see a child when they have teeth protruding through gums and lips. There was just a lot of damage done."
Austin Jaggers says, "There had to be at least six or seven kids not wearing their seat belts, there was one point where four kids were stacked on top of each other where they collided."
Police say they believe the children were all wearing seat belts.
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