The dad who drove a packed SUV into a Mississippi creek, killing five of his children and a family friend, was charged with six counts of DUI manslaughter.
Duane John, 34, was thrown into Neshoba County jail on Monday shortly after being released from the hospital for treatment from Saturday's fatal crash, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Bond was set at $150,000.
A toxicology report is pending, but Sheriff Tommy Waddell said alcohol played a role in the crash, according to the Associated Press.
The car John drove careened off a rural stretch of road shortly after midnight and plunged into a stream 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia. When emergency responders arrived, the Dodge Durango was completely submerged, MIssissippi News Now reported.
The victims, all members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, were trapped inside. The five children who died are: Dasyanna John, 9; Duane John, 8; Bobby John, 7; Quinton John, 4; and 18-month-old Kekaimeas John. Dianne Lewis Chickaway, 37, also died. The victims apparently drowned, Waddell told the Neshoba Democrat.
Chickaway's husband and the children's mother survived the accident, along with John. None of the adults wore a seat belt and the children were not in child restraints, the sheriff said.