INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man responsible for the death of a woman during a police chase is going to prison for 20 years.
41-year-old Matthew Goode was sentenced Friday in Marion County Criminal Court on charges of Resisting Law Enforcement Causing Death and for being an habitual criminal, after jurors found him guilty during a December trial.
The fatal crash happened in August of 2018. Police say there was an arrest warrant for Goode when he fled a traffic stop and took police on a miles-long chase before slamming into a tree, killing his passenger, 27-year-old Tracy Sears.
“The defendant made a decision that put not only himself, but law enforcement and innocent bystanders in danger. The situation could have been resolved peacefully, but instead led to the unnecessary and tragic death of Ms. Sears,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.
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Goode was wanted for failure to appear in Brown County on charges of Unlawful Possession of a Syringe, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of a Synthetic Drug. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to appear for a court date.
Police say Goode was driving a white Sebring northbound on State Avenue near Nelson Avenue on the Indianapolis south side when an officer ran the plates and discovered it had been reported stolen a few weeks earlier.
According to information from police and the prosecutor, when the officer turned on his emergency lights and attempted to stop the vehicle, Goode accelerated to approximately 60 miles per-hour and fled – leading police on a chase for about four miles until they reached Concordia Cemetery, at the intersection of Meridian and Gimber streets.
There, investigators say Goode suddenly swerved into a pursuing officer’s vehicle, causing the Sebring to travel through the cemetery fence and crash into a tree.
Tracy Sears was dead at the scene. Goode suffered serious injuries, but recovered.
