A 24-year-old woman who lost control of her car at high speed near the Roy Y intersection, went airborne and crashed, killing a man in her passenger's seat, has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.
Brie Ana Nicole Chmielewski pleaded guilty March 15 to vehicular homicide in the June 24, 2022 drunk-driving crash on state Route 7 that killed 22-year-old David Escobar.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore Brian Tollefson handed down the punishment Monday, sentencing Chmielewski to 78 months, the low end of the standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases. Chmielewski has no prior criminal convictions.
Relatives of Escobar addressed the court during the hearing, court records show. In a fundraiser for funeral expenses, a family friend said Escobar's death was a "tragic, cruel and horrible mistake."
The two were traveling south on the highway in a 2013 Ford Taurus when Chmielewski failed to negotiate "the sweeping left curve of the intersection," according to charging documents. The car went off the road and went airborne, colliding with a guardrail and then a group of trees.
One witness estimated the driver was going 100 mph before the crash, records state. Another said he was stopping at the intersection when he saw the Ford leave the road into the grass, go airborne and sail over the hood of his vehicle before hitting the trees.
Chmielewski's blood-alcohol content was 0.12 within two hours of the incident, according to court records. That's above the state's limit of 0.08. Chmielewski told Washington State Patrol troopers she had two alcoholic drinks, records state, and a trooper reported seeing a can of hard seltzer on the car's floorboard.
As part of her sentence, the defendant was ordered to undergo an evaluation for substance abuse.
The crash occurred late at night on state Route 7, a five-lane highway that includes a center turn lane with a speed limit of 40 mph in the area of the crash. State Route 7, which becomes Pacific Avenue in Spanaway, Parkland and Tacoma, has been one target of local and state advocates working to improve road safety in Pierce County.
Chmielewski was trapped in the driver's seat when troopers were dispatched at about 12:49 a.m., according to the probable cause document. Emergency personnel extricated her from the vehicle, and she was later transported to St. Joseph's Medical Center to be treated.
Escobar was pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers said he hadn't been wearing a seat belt. The driver was wearing one.
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