By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
SIGOURNEY – On July 8, Daniel Brubaker, the driver of the infamous 2023 hayride accident, pleaded guilty to ten counts of Child Endangerment Resulting in Bodily Injury and three counts of Neglect of a Dependent Person. As part of his plea agreement, the three counts of Child Endangerment Resulting in Serious Injury he was initially charged with were downgraded to Neglect of a Dependent Person. Brubaker faces a maximum prison sentence of ten years each for the Neglect charges and five years each for the Child Endangerment charges, for a potential maximum of eighty years. He will be sentenced on September 4.
These charges stem from a 2023 incident. On October 14 of that year, David Heady Jr. and his wife Victoria hosted a party for middle school aged children near What Cheer, featuring a hayride through rural Keokuk County on the back of a trailer pulled by Brubaker’s pickup truck. During the hayride, Brubaker drove into a ditch, resulting in several children being flung from the trailer or run over by the trailer. Thirteen of the 29 children were injured in some way, with three of them being hospitalized.
At the plea hearing, Brubaker admitted to the judge that he had been drinking prior to the hayride, which began at 8:30 p.m. He stated that he had drunk five drinks between noon and 8:00 p.m., including Busch Lite, a margarita in a can, and a shot of Fireball. Brubaker also admitted to drinking part of a can of beer while he was driving and to having drank half a bottle of vodka an hour after the hayride.
David Heady, who was sitting passenger during the hayride, has also been charged with thirteen counts of child endangerment. Heady was a Keokuk County Sheriff’s Deputy at the time of the crash. Heady has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is set to be tried in August. Brubaker and the Headys also face two separate lawsuits from the families of injured children, the first of which is set to begin this fall.
