A drunk driver that killed her best friend when she rammed into her with an SUV, has been given the harshest penalty allowed by law - a 55-year prison sentence, as reported by The Roanoke Times.
K.E., 41, was sentenced on April 20, for murdering T.R.T., 28, in May 2010, in an event that K.E. has consistently denied having memory of.
K.E. didn't contest charges that included second-degree murder, felony hit-and-run and assault on a police officer.
Witnesses claim to have seen the incident unfold in the El Rodeo Mexican restaurant's parking lot on Electric Road. They alleged to have seen the two women arguing outside of the restaurant.
The two had just completed lunch, as well as drinks that allegedly included White Russians and tequila shots.
K.E.'s son, D.W., had invited the two best friends out to lunch as an early celebration for Mother's Day. He said that the argument seemed trivial to him as it was just over cigarettes and prescription pain pills - that they had ingested along with the alcohol at lunch.
D.W. claimed that his mother had spent the entire prior evening consuming alcohol.
Though D.W. drove the two women to the restaurant, and planned on driving them both home, the women left the vehicle to take their argument outside. But then his mother got behind the steering wheel of the Dodge Durango.
D.W. stated that K.E. then drove the SUV into T.R.T. As T.R.T. slid to the ground, K.E. fled the scene in the SUV.
T.R.T. had extensive head injuries and died three days later.
K.E. was arrested and has since been remanded to the Western Virginia Regional Jail.
Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge Robert Doherty said that K.E.'s no-contest plea was practically the same as a guilty plea.
T.R.T's family asked the judge to give K.E. 40 years for the murder, 10 years for the hit-and-run and 5 years for the assault on the officer - the maximum penalties.
Attorney Randy Leach, for the family said, "If you suspend time, anything less than 30 to 35 years would be inappropriate."
The judge gave K.E. the maximum for every charge, including 12 months and a $2,500 fine for her second DUI conviction and six months and $1,000 fine for her refusal to take a
breath test.
A week before the murder, K.E.'s boyfriend, C.D., said that K.E. had tried to have him arrested for no reason - and she was drunk at the time. Police ended up arresting her for being drunk in public and for assault on an officer.
She was let out of jail on a bond with orders not to drink when the murder occurred.
In her own testimony, K.E. contended that T.R.T. was her best friend. She said, "I still don't believe I intentionally meant to hurt anyone."
K.E. claimed that she had an alcohol-induced blackout that prevented her from remembering the accident at all.
K.E. also admitted to be struggling with "social anxiety" and depression. She said that she has spend most of the last year in medical isolation.
She has since been attending Alcohol Anonymous meetings in jail.
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