ST. MARY'S COUNTY, Md. — A Maryland mother was sentenced Monday in connection with a drunk driving crash that left one of her children dead and her two other children seriously injured.
According to WJLA-ABC7, deputies with the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office responded to the crash around 1:44 a.m. near the intersection of Point Lookout Road and Chingville Road.
Those deputies found the vehicle, a 2008 Honda Odyssey, flipped upside down.
The driver of the vehicle, 28-year-old Ashley Nicole Nolan, was driving north on Point Lookout Road when she failed to negotiate a turn.
The car then left the road and overturned multiple times before striking a tree.
Deputies said the three children inside of the vehicle were not properly restrained.
Two of the children were ejected from the vehicle and taken to area hospitals with life-threatening injuries. The third child later died at a nearby hospital.
Nolan had only suffered minor injuries.
“Drunk driving is a completely preventable crime,” said State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling. “The Defendant started out the evening with a designated driver for a kid-free night-out with a friend. But on the way home, she detoured to her mother’s house, where her children were safely asleep, only to remove them and subject them to extreme danger. Instead of protecting her children, she made the decision to drive under the influence and tragically killed one of them.”
Nolan will serve 22 years in prison, with 14 years of active incarceration.
State's Attorney Sterling stated that the maximum penalty of the case was only 22 years because multiple child victims were involved. Otherwise, the maximum penalty would have been far less.
“Sadly, drunk driving has become one of the most socially acceptable forms of homicide in our society today, and that must change. My office and I have been on the front lines urging the lawmakers in Annapolis to take meaningful action,” Sterling said.
