Coroner: Test found teacher killed in crash used cocaine

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A drug test found a "very, very small amount" of cocaine in the body of a 39-year-old middle school teacher who died nearly two weeks ago in a Gary car accident, Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said Thursday afternoon.

Gary police said last week that investigators found cocaine in the pocket of Merilyn Bouler, a Crown Point resident who died in the accident at 19th Avenue and Taft Street that also killed her 8-year-old son, Jontay Barber.

An autopsy found Bouler and Barber, of the 9400 block of Monroe Street in Crown Point, died from blunt force trauma.

Bouler's 10-year-old son, Landon Evans, also was a passenger in her car. He was taken to the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital for injuries he suffered in the crash,

Pastrick said he couldn't estimate when Bouler last used cocaine.

Gary police and the Lake County Prosecutor's office continue to investigate crash.

After the accident, police arrested Felix Ross, 27, of Gary, and have said Ross' blood-alcohol concentration after the crash was 0.14 and that alcohol likely contributed to the crash.

Bouler taught eighth-grade English at Pierce Middle School in Merrillville. Pierce Principal Paul McKinney last week called Bouler an "outstanding teacher."

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