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Tricia Consul, 38, of Atglen, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and related counts, said District Attorney Deb Ryan's Office in a statement on Thursday, May 25.
Investigators have said that Consul was driving under the influence of Oxycodone, Klonopin, and THC when her car struck a bridge abutment on the 4800 block of Strasburg Road on May 22, 2021.
A witness to the crash told police that Consul was passing a tractor, but failed to straighten out after returning to the travel lane and struck the bridge.
The driver of the tractor, meanwhile, said that he saw Consul on a video call when he approached the wreckage and called 911.
First responders performed CPR on her unrestrained eight-year-old daughter sitting in the front passenger seat, officials said.
The girl was rushed to Brandywine Hospital and Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, where she died of her injuries, according to authorities.
A nine-year-old and an 11-year-old, who were sitting unbelted in the backseat before the crash, were taken to area hospitals where one was treated for a broken arm and the other a broken jaw.
Consul, who also didn't have her seatbelt on, was treated for multiple broken bones and a lacerated spleen, the DA's office said.
Authorities said they later discovered "a syringe with a brown substance" and 10 loose pills in her car, among other items.
Police also obtained a warrant to search Consul's phone, and found that she was on the way to trade marijuana for Klonopin when she crashed her car, officials said.
The woman's driver’s license was suspended and expired at the time of the crash, authorities added.
“Getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence jeopardizes the safety of everyone," DA Ryan said in a statement.
"This was a horrific tragedy that resulted in the death of the defendant’s own child and injury of other children whom she was responsible for keeping safe."
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