GROVER – Scott Mathis, 47, of Pembine was found not guilty on Oct. 8 of two counts of felony homicide in a Marinette County Courthouse trial stemming from a fatal car wreck that killed two Coleman women in June 2024, but he could face a civil trial later this year related to the same accident in the Town of Grover.
Mathis was found guilty of inattentive driving and failure to stop for a stop sign related to traffic citations the Marinette County Sheriff’s Department issued following the fatal accident June 2, 2024 at the intersection of County W and County B, after the vehicle he was driving hit a car containing Elysia Kust, 44, and Mary Anne Kust, 73, Elysia’s mother in law. Both women died as a result of injuries suffered in the accident.
Mathis was accused of two “felony G” counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. He was acquitted of these counts and is now presumed innocent of these charges, Marinette County Circuit Court said. Judge Peggy Miller presided over the case.
On July 22, 2024, attorney John D’Angelo appeared in court as Mathis’ attorney, and Mathis was released on a $2,500 signature bond, pending the outcome of the criminal trial on homicide charges. According to media reports and court documents, Mathis was accused of using his cellphone while driving at about the time of the collision. Information from the court file indicates D’Angelo requested cellphone data as part of the discovery process.
Efforts to reach Mathis and his attorney for comment were unsuccessful by press time.
While Wisconsin doesn’t have a hands-free law restricting the use of cellphones for verbal communications while driving, state statute prohibits texting while driving and the use of cellphones in work zones.
Additionally, the state’s inattentive driving statute states, “No person while driving a motor vehicle may be engaged or occupied with an activity, other than driving the vehicle, that interferes or reasonably appears to interfere with the person’s ability to drive the vehicle safely.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 3,275 traffic fatalities in 2023 in the U.S. involved distracted drivers, and cellphone use is a leading contributor to distracted driving.
While the criminal case against Mathis ended with the jury’s not-guilty verdict, a civil case is pending. Reid Kust and Paul Kust, spouses of the victims in the accident, filed a civil suit in January related to the fatal crash. Three insurance companies — Donegal Mutual Insurance Company, Allmerica Financial Benefit Mutual Insurance Company and Rural Mutual Insurance Company — and Matthis are defendants in the matter set for a scheduling conference Nov. 24 in Marinette County courts.
Elysia Kust, who was born in Marinette as the daughter of Alan and Edith Walker now of Pound, was survived by her husband, Reid and two children, Kamilah and Zackary, who were ages 13 and 11 at the time of her death, an obituary said. She had worked in the Coleman Elementary School Library.
Mary Anne Kust had served as a schoolteacher in Marinette County school districts for 42 years and served as a 4-H leader and religious education teacher. Both women were active in their communities and loved farm animals, with Elysia raising chickens and Mary Anne raising mini horses and goats, as she was once known as “The Goat Lady of Marinette County,” according to obituaries.
In 2024, community members expressed concerns about safety at the intersection where the crash occurred. Marinette County Sheriff Randy Miller said the intersection had been the scene of three crashes within a year’s time and other accidents before then, the Peshtigo Times reported June 12, 2024.
Miller had suggested the Marinette County Traffic Safety Commission would be looking into improvements, such as making the intersection a four-way stop or installing flashing lights or caution signs.
Town of Grover Clerk Lisa Witak said Oct. 10 the intersection was the county’s jurisdiction, not the town’s. Grover Town Board Chair Brad Wyss said the Town Board has no comment on the verdict.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the Kust Family and all other families who have lost loved ones to preventable tragedies,” Wyss said.
Some have discussed installing a roundabout at the intersection, Wyss said. He referred a reporter to Marinette County Highway Commissioner Burmeister for more detail, but Burmeister hadn’t responded by a reporter’s deadline.
Minutes from 2024 Marinette County Highway Traffic Commission meetings indicate members of the public spoke about the intersection before the Commission during the summer of 2024. However, at the August 2024 meeting, Christopher Lesperance said because the Marinette County District Attorney’s Office was investigating the accident, a review of the case would be postponed to a later meeting.
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