"RoccerMom" sentenced in deadly DUI crash
Posted by
IB ContributorMarch 31, 2007 11:01 PMA woman who killed her daughter's 16-year-old friend in a crash while driving home drunk from a nightclub was sentenced Friday to at least 16 months in prison, according to an Associated Press new report posted on the Boston Globe's Web site.
Ann Marie Ciarcia, 47, who called herself "RoccerMom" and listed nightclubbing as an interest on a MySpace Web page, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, vehicular assault and drunken driving.
The three had been driving back to Yorktown from a New York City club in September when Ciarcia crashed into another vehicle while going the wrong way on the Saw Mill Parkway. Emily Cornish was killed and the other driver was seriously injured.
Before the sentence was imposed, prosecutor Christine O'Connor read a letter from the victim's mother, Carol Cornish, who said she had entrusted Ciarcia "with the most precious thing that ever came into my life or that ever could -- the only child of a single mother."
"I forgive you but ... you need to be held accountable for your actions," the mother wrote.
Ciarcia, clutching a tissue and sniffling, said she was devastated by what had happened and told the judge she hadn't taken a drink since that night.
"I will never ever forget the catastrophic moment ... that I finally realized I am an alcoholic," she said.
It's tragic, however, that it took the death of a young girl, only child to her mother, to make this woman realize the path of self-destruction she was on and dragging these two impressionable teenagers with her. It's ok to be "cool parents." But any responsible parent knows that you are your child's parent first, not their friend.
Drunk driving is not cool. It causes tragedies every year, every month, every day.
My partner, staff and I handle numerous serioius injury accidents involving drunk drivers, who hurt, maim and kill people. It's nothing short of gross negligence, in my opinion.