Hamilton woman charged with felonies for crash that injured Edgewood athletes

A Hamilton woman is facing multiple felony charges for a crash that seriously injured two Edgewood High School students in May.

Samantha Harvey, 51, of the 600 block of Woodlawn Avenue, was arraigned Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court on two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, two counts of vehicular assault and misdemeanor charges of driving a vehicle under the influence and driving a vehicle under the influence of marijuana for the incident that happened in Fairfield.

The crash happened about 3 a.m. crash May 6 near Ohio 4 and Symmes Road.

Edgewood sophomore Savannah Schlueter, 16, who was driving, and junior Caila Nagel, 17, were seriously injured and taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to school district officials.

Harvey, the driver of the other vehicle, was initially charged with OVI, but a grand jury returned the additional charges against her last week. She was arraigned Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court. She is free on her own recognizance and scheduled to return to court next month for a pre-trial hearing.

In May, dozens of classmates and families held vigils praying for the two girls’ recovery from their injuries.

Nagel had been a basketball, volleyball and lacrosse player, and Schlueter plays volleyball and lacrosse and is a cheerleader for Edgewood, said Pam Pratt, spokeswoman for the school district, at the time of the crash.

Several GoFundMe pages were established to assist these families with their medical expenses.

“We also ask our Edgewood community to keep Caila, Savannah, and their families in their prayers as well as our students and staff ... in the days and weeks ahead,” Pratt said at the time of the crash.

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