SAN ANTONIO – A jury took just over four hours Monday to sentence a 30-year-old woman to 20 years in prison who prosecutors said was driving under the influence of drugs when she killed a pedestrian.
The woman was the victim in an unrelated sexual assault case, and due to KSAT 12 News policy, is not being identified in this story.
According to trial testimony, the defendant had cocaine, marijuana and Xanax in her system when she veered across two lanes of traffic and ran down Charles White, 47, as he and his family walked along the shoulder of Ray Ellison Drive the morning of June 17, 2013.
White died shortly after arriving at the hospital. His wife was injured but survived, and his son was not injured.
"We're going to ask you to send her to prison for 20 years," prosecutor Jessica Frazier told the jury during closing arguments Monday. "We're going to ask you to give her the max."
Noting that the woman had testified for the state in a high-profile sex case, her lawyer asked for mercy.
"They want to rub her to the ground, kick her when she's down," defense attorney Guillermo Lara argued. "They want to make her less human."
Lara asked the jury to give her probation.