November 9, 2021 – Washington Co., WI – Charges were filed Tuesday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court against a 55-year-old Jackson man in connection with the crash October 16, 2021 that killed 28-year-old Anna Severance and injured her daughters.
Mark Fitzgerald made an appearance before Judge Todd Martens.
Dressed in a purple t-shirt, grey Crocs, and dark orange pants, Fitzgerald was wheeled into the courtroom.
It was noted during the appearance Fitzgerald was recovering from a leg injury and a broken collarbone. His left arm was in a black sling.
Fitzgerald voluntarily turned himself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s around 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
Three charges were filed against Fitzgerald including homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and two counts of reckless driving causing great bodily harm.
Fitzgerald will next appear in court December 15, 2021 at 8:15 a.m. for a position on a preliminary hearing. If convicted on all charges Fitzgerald faces up to 17 years in prison and up to $45,000 in fines.
The criminal complaint is public and graphic. The complaint will be added to the story as soon as information about minors is redacted.
According to the criminal complaint:
-Fitzgerald stated he was running errands in his Ford F-150 pickup truck and coming from the town dump and on his way to a meat market on CTH K.
-According to Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy who spoke with Fitzgerald on scene “the defendant described driving west on Pleasant valley Road and passed some vehicles, not knowing there was an intersection ahead.”
-Speed limit on Pleasant Valley Road is 45 mph. Posted speed on County Trunk Z is 55 mph in the area of Pleasant Valley Road.
-The criminal complaint said Fitzgerald allegedly did not stop at the stop sign on Pleasant Valley Road at CTH Z.
Details from a previous release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department are posted below.
The crash occurred at 10:27 a.m. at the intersection of Pleasant Valley Road at County Trunk Z. An initial investigation showed a westbound vehicle on Pleasant Valley Road failed to yield for the stop sign and struck the southbound vehicle at a high rate of speed.
The driver of the southbound vehicle was assessed by rescue at the scene at which time she was confirmed deceased. The children in the southbound vehicle were taken to Children’s Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
The crash killed Severance and injured the other driver.
As far as the history of the safety of the intersection is concerned, data from Community Maps – Wisconsin County TSC Crash Mapping indicates:
Click HERE to view crash mapping for Washington County, WI
- This has been the only fatal accident at CTH Z and Pleasant Valley Road in the past 20 years
- Between January 2001 and October 2021 there have been two serious crashes north on CTH Z; one crash was at the entrance to Ackerman’s Grove County Park in 2010 and the other was just south of Starlite Drive in 2011.
- The closest fatal accident to CTH Z and PV occurred in 2006 on Cedar Creek Road about a half-mile west of Lily Road. Another fatal accident occurred about 2-miles east on PV at Highway P in 2005.
He deserved more than 15 months in prison those little girls will never know their mother and he knew those roads he grew up there