An contrite Lancaster woman was given a minimum sentence of nine years in prison on Friday for driving under the influence and causing a collision in Manheim Township in February 2021 that killed her 11-year-old son and seriously injured the passengers of the other vehicle.
After a three-day, non-jury trial, County President Judge David Ashworth convicted 39-year-old Jennifer C. Johnson guilty of homicide by car while under the influence of alcohol and several other crimes. Two days later, she was sentenced.
According to a release from the Lancaster District Attorney’s office, Ashworth informed Johnson, of the 600 block of 4th Street, that she chose to put herself, her kid, and others in danger when she got behind the wheel of a weapon while extremely drunk.
Johnson, whose driver’s license was suspended at the time of the collision because to previous DUI convictions, had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of.262% at the time of the collision, according to a blood sample obtained less than two hours after the collision, according to prosecutors.
Johnson was traveling between 67.57 and 69.19 miles per hour, according to a crash reconstruction. She was operating her vehicle in a 25 mph zone.
Ashworth remarked, “You were obviously not a good mother on the night of this accident.” According to Lancaster Online, Johnson had not changed anything to address his ongoing drinking problems, despite prior run-ins with the law.
However, despite the prosecutor’s objections, the judge granted Johnson credit for the 19 months she spent under house arrest before being found guilty.
On February 23, 2021, at about 8:26 p.m., Johnson, then 35, was traveling south on Lititz Pike in Manheim Township when she lost control and collided with an oncoming vehicle. She then struck a Toyota Highlander head-on as the two vehicles crossed Thaddeus Stevens Bridge.
Police were informed by witnesses that Johnson was speeding and driving recklessly before swerving into the opposing lane of traffic, narrowly avoiding an approaching vehicle, and colliding with the Highlander. According to the witnesses, Johnson did not try to brake during the entire encounter.
When police came, they rescued Johnson and her son, Calvin Murrey, from her Honda Accord. Officers said that Johnson was slurring her words and that the Accord was filled with empty alcohol containers and had an alcoholic odor.
After being sent to a hospital in Philadelphia after suffering a collapsed lung in the collision, the kid was declared dead the next day. His injuries from the collision, including a damaged aorta, resulted in blunt force trauma, which ultimately led to his death.
Despite suffering multiple severe injuries, the two people inside the Highlander managed to survive the collision.
According to the DA’s announcement, Johnson said, “I just can’t wrap my head around it,” and apologized on Friday for separating Murrey from her family. He also expressed shock that she survived the crash.
According to the announcement, Johnson’s family also requested that Ashworth provide her a compassionate sentence so that she can raise her three surviving daughters, who range in age from 18 to 1, and deal with her mental health and drug addiction problems.
Kyle Linardo, the case prosecutor, countered that Johnson was not a mother to her son.
According to LancasterOnline, Linardo stated that although the defendant was not a monster, she was not a mother on the evening of February 23, 2021. Her behavior violated both the principles of nurture and the laws of this commonwealth.
According to Linardo, Murrey desired the security of a mother’s love in his last hours on earth, but Johnson was too drunk and unable to be there for him. Instead, a stranger stood at the boy’s side while he awaited emergency personnel.
The earliest Johnson could be eligible for parole is in the spring of 2032, after receiving credit for the time he spent under house arrest.
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