A Douglas County grand jury has decided a North Bend man should not face a charge of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Heidi Johnson.

Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Deborah Stoll presented evidence against John Flaxel last week to the grand jury.

“It found insufficient evidence to indict,” she said.

Flaxel, 73, was driving back from the Willamette Valley on Jan. 3 when his Toyota Sequoia crossed the centerline near milepost 20 of state Highway 38. It hit a Ford pickup, then crashed head-on into Johnson’s Volkswagen Jetta, which caught fire. Johnson, a 2006 graduate of North Bend High School, was driving back to Lane Community College for the winter term. She died in the crash.

Flaxel was not arrested following the accident, and without a grand jury indictment, the district attorney’s office can’t proceed with the homicide charge, Stoll said.

Prosecutors did not think drugs or alcohol were involved, so the only charge available in such a case was criminally negligent homicide, she said.

“It appeared that Mr. Flaxel caused the crash,” she said. “That’s why we present to the grand jury.”

Flaxel pleaded no contest to a careless driving citation in August and paid a $720 fine.

The occupants in the Ford suffered injuries, as did Flaxel and his wife, Joy, who was riding with him in the Toyota.

Flaxel’s injuries have healed, but his wife won’t fully recover from the back and neck injuries she suffered in the crash, said Nick Nylander, Flaxel’s attorney in the traffic citation case.

The grand jury could reconsider the homicide charge if new evidence is presented, but Stoll said she doesn’t expect that to happen.