A 28-year-old Goshen woman who admitted leaving the scene of a May traffic accident that claimed two lives was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by a Marshall County judge.
Monica Sanders was driving a SUV that slammed into the back of a car on Plymouth-LaPorte Trail at Rose Road in the early morning hours of May 15, 2016, according to court documents.
Two of the four people in the car, Paul Graham and a teenage girl, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
Sanders was charged on May 17 with two Level 5 felony counts of failing to remain at the scene of an accident that resulted in the death of a person. Each count carried a maximum penalty of six years.
She reached a plea agreement with the state under which the two sentences would be served concurrently, with the term up to Judge Robert Bowen in Marshall Superior Court
During her sentencing conflicting evidence was presented about whether Sanders was driving under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred. She admitted being in the crash, not having a driver’s license at the time and fleeing before emergency personnel arrived but denied she had been drinking.
Sanders’ attorney had requested a suspended sentence and probation be imposed for each offense. Judge Bowen ordered the 4.5 year sentence be served in the Indiana Department of Corrections. Sanders will be required to serve 75 percent of that time before she is released.
Chipman says although it’s unlikely Sanders could have done anything to save the lives of either person who died, she still needs to be held accountable for choosing to run from the scene of her collision.
