One of two women out for a Saturday night of partying with friends is dead. The woman who survived the fatal car accident is blamed for killing her 34-year-old friend.
The criminal complaint against a West Allis woman charges the unlicensed driver with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. The 24-year-old suspect claims she cannot remember the auto accident on West Capitol Drive.
Milwaukee police reports say the women spent a Saturday evening at a nightclub on the city’s south side. The two allegedly drank alcohol before entering the bar, while sitting in a 2002 Chevrolet Impala. The women apparently joined two friends in the nightclub and drank steadily for three hours. It was around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday when the friends agreed to leave.
At first, the older of the two women got behind the Impala’s wheel. The complaint says the driver became sick after pulling over at a gas station not far from the bar and asked her friend to drive. The younger woman, whose driver’s license is suspended, claimed she hesitated to agree because “she felt she shouldn’t be driving.” The suspect has no memory of driving on West Capitol Drive or losing control of the Impala.
Reports indicate the car struck and bounced off a median near 90th Street, causing the vehicle to spin into a tree. The car struck the tree sideways with the brunt of the impact on the passenger side.
The driver suffered a head laceration. Her friend died at the accident scene from multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma and fractures to her ribs and skull.
A blood alcohol test conducted two hours after the fatal crash registered above 0.13. The driver’s recorded BAC level exceeded the state’s legal limit of 0.08.
If the West Allis 24-year-old is convicted of the double homicide counts, she faces a prison sentence up to 50 years and maximum fines of $200,000.
Source: jsonline.com, “West Allis woman charged in fatal car crash,” Gitte Laasby, Jan. 19, 2012
