Charges filed after car crashes into house

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A not guilty plea was entered Monday for a South Bend woman who police say was drunk when she crashed into a home in the city, killing a 56-year-old woman sleeping on her living room couch.

Erica McCaffery, 23, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated resulting in death of another person, a felony with a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. She also has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving.

Police say she crashed an Oldsmobile Aurora into the home near the University of Notre Dame campus around 1:30 a.m. Friday, killing Barbara Knapp. The crash destroyed about half of the one-story wood-frame house. Police said the damage indicated the car was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crashed.

Police said when they arrived McCaffery and a passenger, Jaumall Chester, were lying on the ground outside. Police say McCaffery told them she had been drinking at her brother's apartment.

McCaffery said she planned to hire her own attorney. She is scheduled to appear May 7 before St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha.

She was being held Monday in the St. Joseph County Jail on $20,000 bond.