Woman Who Tweeted '2 Drunk 2 Care' Before Fatal Crash Gets 24 Years
The Florida woman who tweeted “2 drunk 2 care” hours before causing a deadly car crash was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Monday, CBS News reports.
Kayla Mendoza, 22, faced a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the manslaughter of 21-year-olds Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa Catronio, killed in a head-on collision with Mendoza in November 2013. Mendoza—who posted her infamous tweet less than three hours before the crash—was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.
At today’s hearing, the families of Ferrante and Catronio asked the judge to make an example of Mendoza and give her the maximum sentence. From NBC Miami:
“Kayla, you changed all that, you took all those dreams away,” mother Christine Ferrante said. “And then I had to make the choice to pull her off of life support, that’s something a mother should never have to do.”
“How do you forgive someone who’s ruined your life and family’s lives forever?” brother Justin Catronio said.
Authorities said Mendoza, who was 20 years old at the time, had gone out to a Coral Springs bar after work where she drank two large fish bowl-sized margaritas.
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It was later discovered that Mendoza was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, according to police.
After she is released from prison, Mendoza will serve six years probation and is banned from driving for life.
