INDIANAPOLIS — The woman blamed for two fatal crashes in three weeks is out of jail awaiting trial for reckless homicide.
Other drivers whose cars were hit by Kelli Anderson are learning they were not alone. They're grateful to have survived their run-in with Anderson, who kept getting behind the wheel with deadly consequences, despite knowing she was suffering from seizures.
Anderson is charged with reckless homicide in the death of Kiana Burns in an eight-car crash at 52nd Street and Keystone Avenue June 9. She also faces six counts of criminal recklessness against the other drivers impacted in the accordion crash.
Just three weeks before that, police said Anderson ran over a curb at 49th and Meridian streets, hitting and killing Dr. Brian Dillman as he jogged on the sidewalk. Dillman was a Franciscan Health emergency room physician.
Court records say after that May 19 crash, doctors told Anderson her seizures made her a risk to harm herself and others and not to drive for six months until cleared by neurologist. Anderson was instructed not to work at heights, to take showers instead of baths, with no swimming, operating heavy machinery, or lifting close to open flames. Anderson told doctors she understood.
Investigators say Anderson is at fault for five more crashes in Indianapolis in the past three years:
On August 3, 2019, Anderson was driving north at 6500 N. Meridian Street when she veered off the side of the road, flipping her black Saturn Outlook in a ditch. When officers talked with Anderson, she said she is epileptic and possibly had a seizure because she did not know what happened.
Six months later, on Feb. 20, 2020, a witness said Anderson allegedly ran a stop sign going south on Dean Road at 79th Street and t-boned a car driven by Kyle Simmons in the driver’s door. Simmons had stopped, then turned right from 79th Street onto Dean Road. Simmons' car was totaled. She went to the hospital in an ambulance but had no serious injuries.
"For the damage she did to my car, and the impact, she had to have been driving at least 40, 45 miles an hour,” said Simmons. “I'm very lucky I'm still alive."
The insurance company for the owner of the other vehicle paid for Simmons’ damages and medical expenses. But Kelli Anderson’s name was not on the policy. She never knew the name of the woman who hit her until their crash was listed in the court records filed June 17 and reported in the news.
"It's just unbelievable,” said Simmons. “I just thought it was one incident. But it wasn't. I can't believe she was still able to have her license."
On March 9, 2021, Anderson was driving south on Fall Creek Parkway near the Indiana State Fairgrounds entrance when she ran into the back of another moving vehicle.
Later that year, on Sept. 2, Anderson was traveling south on Allisonville Road when she struck the rear of the car in front of her stopped at the stoplight at 79th Street. The crash caused the other vehicle, driven by Carmen Alvarez Munoz, to spin around into oncoming lane facing the opposite direction. Anderson’s car veered off the roadway and hit a fire hydrant. Carmen's car was repaired. She had some neck and arm soreness.
"The police officer told me the person that hit me, she was taking medications,” said Carmen. “She didn't remember anything about what happened. I don't understand why she or her family let her drive a car."
On May 2 of this year, Anderson was driving south on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street when she veered off the road and struck a light pole. She told officers another car stopped abruptly in front of her and in order to avoid the other vehicle she turned the car left and ran off the east side of the road along the Crown Hill Cemetery brick fence.
Police never ticketed Anderson for a traffic violation in any of the previous non-fatal crashes.
Anderson posted bond last week. She is not allowed to drive while awaiting trial. She answered the door at her apartment Monday morning but said she could not speak about the case and refused to answer any questions.
Anderson is not allowed to drive while awaiting trial for the death of Burns, a mother of four children. The judge has taken under advisement a motion to suspend Anderson’s driver’s license. Court records say Anderson was driving a white Lincoln SUV that rammed into the back of Kianna Burns' stopped gray Pontiac G6 car accelerating to almost 69 miles an hour at impact.
Her trial is set for Sept. 1.