Woman charged in fiery downtown Omaha crash that killed 4 enters plea
3 of her own children died, along with the driver of another vehicle
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The woman charged in a downtown Omaha crash that resulted in the deaths of four people — including three of her own children — has entered a plea.
Rachel Bickerstaff, 33, pleaded “no contest” to four counts of motor vehicle homicide Thursday in Douglas County District Court. A fifth charge of DUI causing serious bodily injury was dropped as part of the plea agreement.
Just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2024, investigators say Bickerstaff ran a red light at 10th Street while over 100 miles per hour down Douglas Street in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, smashing into a Subaru Outback driven by 70-year-old Michael Sales of Council Bluffs, who had just turned left onto Douglas.
According to court documents, Bickerstaff’s blood-alcohol level tested at .216 at the hospital — almost three times the legal limit.
As a result of the impact, which pushed both vehicles eastward, the Subaru hit a light pole. Bickerstaff’s Jeep struck a tree and rolled before catching on fire, which spread to Sales’ Subaru and engulfed both engines, according to court documents.
Sales died at the scene, as did Bickerstaff’s 5-year-old and newborn infant daughters. Her 18-month-old daughter initially survived the crash but died days later at a hospital in Kansas City.
Both Bickerstaff and a 38-year-old man, who was the father of the three girls, survived. The man was pulled out of the Jeep’s passenger seat by Good Samaritans nearby immediately following the crash, but the vehicle was too engulfed in flames to rescue the newborn and 5-year-old trapped in her vehicle.
Bickerstaff is scheduled to be sentenced June 18.
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