Trial for Marion man reset to April in vehicular homicide of 13-year-old Coggon girl

The trial of a Marion man who was charged last year with vehicular homicide — 12 years after he caused a crash near Coggon — is scheduled to begin this spring.

Background

A Coggon woman was on her way home from an emergency room visit for her 21-month-old daughter for an ear infection about 1 a.m. on May 18, 2013, when a Marion man crashed his pickup truck into their van near the intersection of Highway 13 and Valley Farm Road, near Central City.

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Brandon Schaul, then 27, crossed the center line, lost control of his truck and struck the van after drinking eight to 10 beers and smoking marijuana.

Rachel Denny, 26, died at the scene and her daughter, Izabella, was seriously injured.

Schaul was charged with homicide by vehicle and serious injury by vehicle. According to a criminal complaint, the toddler suffered permanent injuries — spinal cord and brain damage resulting in paralysis and dependence on a ventilator. Izabella had to undergo more than one surgery, including an eight-hour spinal fusion.

During a four-day trial in 2015, Linn County deputies testified they found nine empty beer cans in Schaul’s truck. His blood alcohol content level was .072, based on calculations extrapolated back to the time of the crash. The legal limit to drive a vehicle is .08 BAC. Schaul also tested positive for marijuana.

A jury found Schaul guilty of the two charges and a judge sentenced him to up to 30 years in prison.

What has happened since

On Nov. 13, 2024, 13-year-old Izabella Denny died from complications of the injuries she received in the 2013 crash, according to an autopsy cited in a new criminal complaint.

Izabella exhibited “gasping respirations” and became unresponsive and was taken to the hospital that day. CPR was performed but she died.

Izabella had suffered recent seizures due to anoxic brain injury caused by “mucus plugging” related to her ventilator dependence, the complaint stated. She also had been “battling” a respiratory infection, which made her underlying condition more difficult for her to breathe, made her more susceptible to infection and more difficult for her to recover.

According to an autopsy, she suffered acute respiratory distress syndrome as a result of the underlying condition and injuries caused by the car crash and complications from those injuries, the complaint stated. The injuries from the crash caused the complications and those remote blunt force injuries were the cause of her death, a state medical examiner told authorities.

Schaul, now 37, serving his sentence at Anamosa State Penitentiary since March 2015, was charged in February 2025 with homicide by vehicle — OWI, a Class B felony, for Izabella’s death.

He had an Iowa Board of Parole hearing in May 2025 but wasn’t released, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. His tentative discharge/parole date is Aug. 12, 2028.

Schaul filed a motion to dismiss the new charge in June, arguing the prosecution couldn’t file the charge because it is double jeopardy — someone being charged or punished twice for the same offense. He also argued there’s a statute of limitations for when the crime or event happened 12 years ago.

The prosecution argued Schaul couldn’t be put in “jeopardy” until a death occurred, and Izabella didn’t die until 2024, which was the result of the crash, according to a medical examiner.

“When the victim died, a new and distinct crime of homicide was committed,” Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks wrote in a motion.

The prosecution also isn’t barred by the statute of limitations, Maybanks said during a hearing. The clock didn’t start until the death occurred in 2024 and charges were filed in February, well within the three years of when she died, he said.

Sixth Judicial District Judge David Cox, in his ruling made about a week later, said there wasn’t a violation of double jeopardy because “an exception to the general rule applies when all the facts necessary” to uphold the homicide by vehicle charge didn’t occur when the serious injury by vehicle was prosecuted.

Izabella was only 21 months old when the crash happened, but she didn’t die from her injuries until 2024, Cox noted in the ruling. The most important fact is that her death also didn’t occur until after the prosecution, conviction and sentencing of Schaul in the 2013 case, which falls within the exception and doesn’t violate the double jeopardy clause.

Cox also ruled that the trial information of the new charge was filed within three years of the child’s death, so there is no violation of the statute of limitations.

Schaul’s trial has been reset a few times. His initial lawyer is retiring, so the court appointed a new one and his trial has been reset to April 7.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com