Driver indicted for negligent homicide after 13-year-old died in 2021 pile-up
BATON ROUGE — A truck driver arrested following the death of a 13-year-old in a 2021 pile-up was indicted by a grand jury on a negligent homicide charge Wednesday.
Marlin Jordan was arrested in April 2021 for negligent homicide. At the time, State Police said Jordan was behind the wheel of a 2007 Kenworth tractor-trailer headed east on U.S. 190 when he approached stopped traffic on a downslope and was unable to stop.
As a result, the 18-wheeler he was driving crashed into multiple vehicles. The chain-reaction crash damaged 16 vehicles.
The 16-car pile-up on the old Mississippi River Bridge resulted in the death of Janaria James, a 13-year-old girl who was a passenger in a car involved in the crash. Police said the car James was riding in was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer.