By Joe Gerrety
jgerrety@journalandcourier.com

Anthony L. Stout bowed his head and sobbed during a brief appearance Thursday morning in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1.

The 24-year-old from West Lafayette had been on suicide precautions at the Tippecanoe County Jail since his arrest Monday morning in connection with a one-vehicle crash that killed his friend, Jennifer A. Buckingham, 21, of West Lafayette.

During the initial hearing, Stout learned he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the criminal charges filed against him.

Stout is charged with drunken driving resulting in death, and reckless homicide. Because he is accused of having a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.15 percent at the time of the crash, one of the fatal drunken driving charges is a Class B felony with a penalty range of six to 20 years in prison.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the charges, police believe Stout was driving a 1997 GMC Jimmy north in the 2500 block of McCormick Road, just north of Lindberg Road, about 5:23 a.m. Monday when he lost control of the vehicle at an S-curve.

The SUV slid sideways into a utility pole, which broke off. The passenger side of the vehicle took the force of the impact, and Buckingham died at the scene from head trauma.

The legal BAC limit for driving in Indiana is 0.08 percent. According to the affidavit, the initial blood sample taken after the crash showed Stout had a BAC of 0.20 percent. A subsequent test showed 0.16 percent.

Stout told Judge Don Johnson that he and Buckingham had been friends for about five years.

Johnson appointed the Tippecanoe County public defender's office to represent Stout. A tentative trial date was scheduled for March 6.

Buckingham, a 2003 graduate of Harrison High School, had spent her childhood in Arizona until her family moved to West Lafayette in 2002.