After Losing 3 Children, Amish Family Forgives Teen Driver in Fatal Accident
There’s an important update to the tragic story of three Amish siblings killed in a crash in northern Indiana.
It turns out the driver of the vehicle was a 17-year-old girl named Sienna O’Connor.
There’s always a lot of speculation when these accidents happen. Was the person speeding? Were they texting? Were drugs or alcohol involved?
According to a statement made on Facebook by the girl’s mother, Tracy Coleman, none of the above was the case here.
She explains:
She turned her phone over to prove she wasn’t texting, we relinquished the black box from her car to show she wasn’t speeding and she did a toxicology test to show there were no drugs or alcohol in her system. Pony carts are smaller than buggies. And due to a small hill and valley she simply did not see them until it was too late.
So in other words, she wasn’t speeding or texting, and there were no substances in her system. Based on this account, visibility was the issue here.
Although, unlike some Amish communities, this community is generally flat terrain with straight roads, there are dips and jogs in the roads in these places.
And apparently that is what led to the accident.
Pony carts, as we noted in the last post, have a much lower profile on the road. Some of them have orange flags attached to a tall pole for this reason, like in this photo below, but not all.
The Yoder Family Extends Forgiveness…And More
Tracy Coleman also described how the Amish community and specifically the Kevin & Inez Yoder family, who lost children and siblings Glenda, Darrell, and Devon, have treated her daughter.
First of all, she says that the Yoders have forgiven her daughter, and moreso:
My daughter is shattered as well as the beautiful Yoder family. This beautiful family invited my daughter into their home. Hugged her. Told her they love her. Told her that they’re so sorry this happened to her and they forgive her. They believe it was a freak accident and do not hold her responsible for this tragedy. And they gave Sienna Glenda’s bible to help her heal ❤️
Not only that, they posted a notes asking people to “stop the hate” towards her daughter Sienna:
The above note reads:
Let’s pray for Sienna O’Connor and stop the hate mail. Our family has met and talked with her. There are no bad feelings toward her.
God has chosen her to bring Glenda, Darrell, and Devon home to him in Heaven. We will love Sienna as our new friend.
God is Love. Pray for her and pass this along
Love, Dad Kevin & Inez
Myron, Marlin, Galen, Karlan and Kalen Yoder
Tracy Coleman writes about what the family did with the note(s):
They were concerned enough, to go to the Bremen parks and post notes asking to please stop the hate. They lost 3 children and before they even buried them, they’re doing their best trying to protect Sienna from evil. We all have a lot we could learn from the Amish. God love the Yoder’s!
Here’s another note that was posted at the children’s funeral, requesting prayers for Sienna O’Connor:
The note reads:
At 2:00 PM April 10, 2025, Sienna and family members came to the home of Kevin and Inez Yoder, parents of Glenda, Darrell, and Devon who died yesterday in the car/pony cart accident.
We do not hold Sienna at fault, and believe she was only a tool in God’s hands to bring these children home to Jesus. We totally forgive her and ask all others to do the same.
Let’s Pray for her, and we ask for your prayers as well. Though the parting is hard, we believe they are “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.”
The Parents, Kevin and Inez Yoder and family
Finally, here is a text message inviting Sienna and family to the Yoder home “for healing” (these notes were all shared by Tracy Coleman in her Facebook post).
There will still be a lot of tears to come. But this is another powerful example of Amish beliefs – about forgiveness, God, and Heaven.
Mother Tracy Coleman’s Statement
Here is Tracy Coleman’s statement via Facebook:
If you can’t read that, here is the statement in full:
A horrific tragedy happened in our community. My daughter struck a pony cart carrying 3 children who were headed to school. All 3 children were killed.
She turned her phone over to prove she wasn’t texting, we relinquished the black box from her car to show she wasn’t speeding and she did a toxicology test to show there were no drugs or alcohol in her system. Pony carts are smaller than buggies. And due to a small hill and valley she simply did not see them until it was too late.
My daughter is shattered as well as the beautiful Yoder family. This beautiful family invited my daughter into their home. Hugged her. Told her they love her. Told her that they’re so sorry this happened to her and they forgive her. They believe it was a freak accident and do not hold her responsible for this tragedy. And they gave Sienna Glenda’s bible to help her heal ❤️
They also have heard that society has had cruel things to say about her and that hurts them deeply. As her mother, it obviously hurts me as well.
We all know that terrible accidents happen due to reckless behavior, but not all accidents are caused by recklessness. Please know that my daughter is suffering and be kind to her. Her life, as well as the Yoder’s will never be the same.
Through this tragedy, I’ve seen more love, compassion, understanding and grace come from the Amish community than I ever thought imaginable. My family’s world tragically collided with the most remarkable family I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. ❤️
The attachments to this post are of the invitation we received for healing at the home of the Yoder’s, a note posted at the funeral requesting prayers for Sienna….and i just added ANOTHER gesture of love from them. They were concerned enough, to go to the Bremen parks and post notes asking to please stop the hate. They lost 3 children and before they even buried them, they’re doing their best trying to protect Sienna from evil. We all have a lot we could learn from the Amish.
God love the Yoder’s! ❤️❤️❤️
I also want to thank all the wonderful people who came by to comfort Sienna with food, flowers, cards, hugs and kind words. Every single kind gesture means more than you know. When the chips are down, that’s when you find out who your friends are. And the kindness is carrying us through!!
tragic
A cart like this is unbelievably dangerous. Not just to the riders, but drivers, and the poor little pony! I notice these stories never mention the poor animals who have no choice in the matter. These things should really not be allowed on roads with cars!
Animal welfare
Exactly! Thank you!
Well what’s even more dangerous as those carts are distracted drivers and teenage drivers and they should not be allowed to drive until 21.Many teenagers don’t have the attention span or defensive driving skills to be driving a car not alone an SUV.
Forgiveness For Sienna . . .
Absolutely amazing!! It does my heart good to read this story. Thanks, Erik, for bringing it to us. Another example of simple grace. My cup runneth over! I do hope both the family & Sienna will heal from this event. Sounds like all parties are off to a good start. God bless everyone!
Just because they have forgiven Sienna doesn’t mean she holds no responsibility!She should spend 5-10 yrs in prison with a license suspension for at least 5 years for vehicular homicide and have to take a driving course and pass in order to ever regain her license!Driving is a responsibility not a right!
I live here...
We live a half a mile from where this tragedy occured. It occured at 8:03 am in broad daylight. Clear and dry. At the time the girl made a statement to the police that she had dropped a piece of paper on the floor and she was searching for it. That was not covered in this expose’. She was driving an SUV with excellent visibility, high off the ground. This was widely reported by the press. The speed limit is 55 mph. The hills on either side of the scene are minor and I drive that section of road continually in my job and for personal travel. Over the years that we’ve lived here, I have passed countless Amish in buggies, pony carts and bicycles right there. My vision has never been obstructed by these so-called “hills”. There are spots in our area, as everywhere that can cause issues for the safety of the Amish. Fir road isn’t one of those. There are simply too many questions left unanswered in spite of the clear forgiveness that has occured. They won’t be left up to Gods grace or the parties involved. It will be up to the authorites. The wrecklessness, lack of respect and outright disdain that many have for the Amish in this area is disgraceful. And there is more of this every day as more and more city people move into our area. The fact is that driving in our area requires 100% attention 100% of the time to keep these types of tragedies from occuring.
God bless the Yoders and the Amish for their Grace and forgiveness.
The rest of the story.
Thank you Christopher for giving that added detail that she may not have been paying attention if she reached for something on the floorboard of the car or vehicle. The truth of the matter is this was not an accident, it was an avoidable collision. Accidents are unavoidable and beyond our control. The motor vehicle is under The operators control from the time we open the door to get inside to when the person turns on the key or starts the engine and when they put it in gear, they have control AND RESPONSIBILITY for the vehicle. Unfortunately when they start driving fast they lose control for unexpected events on the road. People don’t really care about killing over 40,000 people a year on our highways in the United States and many more injured, that’s right every year, year after year. So the police have started calling these “collisions” instead of accidents because all any person would have to do is drive 5 or 10 miles an hour in their vehicle and they would have time to stop and look and even pick a piece of paper up off the floor and not lose control of the vehicle. God did not intend for human bodies to travel at high rates of speed, which is why he said be content with such things as you have namely your legs for walking or even bicycling or riding roller skates or skateboard but that’s all human powered and people are not content with that because they lust after speed.
A final note: there would be no need for forgiveness if no one had done anything wrong!
Absolutely agree with you!If there was no distraction or negligence 3 Amish children would still be alive!This girl needs to do 5-10 in prison for the 3 lives she stole and walk with her legs then maybe she would appreciate the responsibility that comes with driving!I’ve been hit by 7 distracted drivers all with no insurance-none were my fault!Had two cars totaled!When are they going to hold distracted drivers accountable??How many people do they have to kill?
For a piece of paper
For one piece of paper,.. 3 children and most likely the pony, died. A PIECE OF PAPER!! Anyone who lives near the Amish have to be aware that they will come upon a horse/pony vehicle. They must be very vigilant while driving so as to avoid this. This girl lived in the area, so she should have known, common sense. Every year I travel the roads in Lancaster county, PA., and pay close attention to the horse vehicles. So worried about a stinking piece of paper, this is distracted driving. Maybe not speeding, maybe not substance abuse, but NOT paying attention while driving something that a pony cart is no match for. I am glad the Yoder’s are so forgiving, and why would God put this burden on her to bring three children home to him in this way.
Absolutely agree with you!If there was no distraction or negligence 3 Amish children would still be alive!This girl needs to do 5-10 in prison for the 3 lives she stole and walk with her legs then maybe she would appreciate the responsibility that comes with driving!I’ve been hit by 7 distracted drivers all with no insurance-none were my fault!Had two cars totaled!When are they going to hold distracted drivers accountable??How many people do they have to kill?
Freak accidents do happen
Freak accidents do happen. Whether this was one of them or not is a subject for the authorities charged with actually investigating. Information about the road and questions about what else has been said are one thing, but it is reasonable to suggest that declaring that the driver must be to blame (we’re talking a named person who so far seems not even to have been accused of any wrongdoing) is unfair.
Seriously, if she did something wrong it is for her to answer that to the appropriate court, in the context of being given a fair hearing. Not for her to be subjected to a lot of public hate and imprecation on the basis of speculation.
As a disabled person I ride a recumbent tricycle. It’s the only real independent mobility I have, as I cannot drive. It is more risky than not being on the road would be, in, I would guess, much the same way as something like these pony carts are. I choose to take that risk because I feel it is better than the alternatives.
Being fair in road-regulation issues is very complicated, because they are a thing in which everyone has a stake and no choice is truly independent of others’ needs. But I do feel that there is an increasing problem with the live-and-let-live principle being eroded and rejected, in random people trying to dictate to other adults (in which I include parents’ decision about their children’s best interests*) how they ought to live. If I decide a personal safety precaution is not worth taking because it is causing me too much pain and/or difficulty in the reality of my own life, that should be my business.
Thinking they know better does not automatically entitle anyone to impose their wishes on others; there are other necessary criteria to be met (exactly what is complicated. However, it does surprise me, in a culture so keen on the idea of freedom, that there is so much causal, “Other people shouldn’t be allowed to… because in MY judgement it’s not safe enough for THEM.” Logically, I would not expect that to be regarded as a legitimate argument).
I’d also add that if driving is a privilege, it’s necessary for society to be organised in ways that allow those of us who cannot drive to function and flourish. If driving is essential to access work, human company, necessary purchases like food and clothing, education, recreation, fresh air, and so on, it’s a necessity. Moreover, privilege or not, it’s still an injustice to be arbitrary about removing it. I’d suggest that if people want teenagers – or indeed, people in drug rehab or with other problems that make them less safe on the road – to refrain from driving, part of the onus falls on the wider community to ensure those people have access to work and services despite not driving. (More lightheartedly – perhaps someone should organise a course on keeping a horse and driving a buggy for people would probably be safe doing that but aren’t really safe driving a car! It may be limited range etc. but it’s an awful lot more mobility than you get without).
*(Parent-to-child abuse is an exception and should be treated as such, not made the rule for all nation-state dealings with parents. Unless the parents are trying to harm the children, they are the ones who make the long-term commitment, and they are the ones who have the proper moral authority to decide what is in the children’s best interests. The idea that the state/community has the general right to decide what is best for children in the parents’ despite is what justified the stolen generations and – in earlier ages – the forced baptism of the children of Jewish parents. Those are, on the level of principle, now generally accepted to have been seriously wrong).