Adelaide court releases Port River Expressway fatal crash video in Carlie Eileen Richards trial

Dashcam footage of the horrific Port River Expressway crash which claimed the life of a young artist has been released by the courts. Watch it here.

Horror dashcam footage of the Port River Expressway crash which claimed the life of young artist Erica Hoy has been released by the courts.

The alleged killer driver, Carlie Eileen Richards, 40, is standing trial in the District Court after claiming she was suffering from delusions at the time of the crash. Richards pleaded guilty to leaving the accident scene after causing death and harm by careless driving.

She pleaded not guilty to causing death and harm by dangerous driving, on the basis of mental incompetence and that she didn’t know the wrongfulness of her actions at the time.

Rob Walker, for the prosecution, told the court Ms Richards, who had a small quantity of meth in her system, was driving a motor vehicle on the Port River Expressway on November 1, 2022.

Carlie Eileen Richards, Picture: Facebook

The court heard Carlie Richards was suffering delusions at the time of the crash. Picture: Facebook

“She was driving well in excess of the posted speed limit, which was 90km/h, and which changed shortly before she was involved in a collision to 60km/h,” he said.

Carlie Richards arrested. Picture: Courts SA

Erica Hoy was killed in the crash while her sister was injured. Picture: Facebook

The court heard for 13 seconds leading up to the collision Richards drove at an average speed of 157km/h.

The dashcam footage shows Richards overtaking a vehicle at speed, before rear-ending a Toyota Prius, which “catapulted” into an oncoming lane of traffic, hitting a Kia Cerato and then a truck immediately after.

Lisa Hoy was driving the Prius, with her twin sister Erica in the front passenger seat and Erica’s boyfriend, Michael Reader in the rear seat.

“Erica Hoy … died as a result of the intrusion of the truck on the oncoming lane,” Mr Walker said.

The court heard Lisa suffered several injuries, including damage to her pelvis and kidney and a broken nose.

Mr Reader suffered broken ribs and injuries to his lungs, liver, kidney and pelvis, while the Kia driver also suffered harm.

Giving evidence, forensic psychiatrist Hoa Nguyen told the court Richards was previously diagnosed with a schizo-affective disorder, which is a combination of bipolar illness and schizophrenia.

The court heard Richards was suffering from delusions at the time of the alleged offending, including believing that a “small security vehicle was following her”, which is why she drove erratically.

She also reported to police she believed she needed to race to prove her love for her partner. In closing addresses, Mr Walker said the evidence fell short about when Richards formed the delusions.

“She formed the intention to drive, the fact that she formed an intention apparently to race and that she knew in the immediate aftermath that she bore some responsibility for the accident all in my submission, tend to undermine Dr Nguyen’s opinion,” he said.

Paul Charman, for Richards, said the test to determine mental incompetence was what her mental state was at the time of driving on the Port Expressway and said there was no contradictory evidence besides Dr Nguyen’s.

Judge Carmen Matteo has reserved her judgment.

Originally published as Adelaide court releases Port River Expressway fatal crash video in Carlie Eileen Richards trial