Woman Gets 4-Year Prison Term, Probation For Crash That Killed Woman, Unborn Child

Woman Gets 4-Year Prison Term, Probation For Crash That Killed Woman, Unborn Child

A woman who pleaded guilty to her role in a drunken-driving crash that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child last year in Coon Rapids will serve time in prison for the offense.

Anoka County Judge Sean Gibbs on Friday sentenced Makayla April Sua Richardson, 21, to two consecutive four-year prison terms for counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

Gibbs gave Richardson credit for 195 days served on the first sentence and stayed execution of the second four-year term while she serves five years of supervised probation. Her probation period will begin once she has completed her time in prison and is placed on supervised release.

As previously reported, Richardson ran a red light at the intersection of Coon Rapids Boulevard and Springbrook Drive Northwest and struck an SUV carrying 26-year-old Melinda Thao.

Melinda Thao, a passenger in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at a hospital along with her unborn child.

Richardson told police she had consumed one alcoholic drink before driving and admitted to speeding and not having a valid license, according to a criminal complaint. Officers found an empty can of an alcoholic beverage inside Richardson’s truck, and a field test found she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit.

Richardson was originally charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count each of criminal vehicular operation and driving while intoxicated. The latter two charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

At Friday’s hearing, several of Melinda Thao’s close family members testified to express their loss.

Melinda’s mother, Amy Thao, said her daughter was “strong and smart and independent” and called her “a bright light in our family.”

“There is no justice that can bring Melinda back. No sentence can take away the pain I feel,” Amy Thao said, holding back sobs. “But I stand here today to make sure that her light is not forgotten. I want the world to understand that one careless decision can destroy a family forever.”

Christopher Yang, Melinda Thao’s widower and the father of her child, said there is now a “void” at the home where they were supposed to build a family together.

“I grapple with how to go on without them, as though living without them is a crime,” Yang said.

Cindy Thao mourned her younger sister and Leona, the niece she never got to meet.

“Every day, the Thao and Yang families wake up with the ache in our hearts, knowing that we will never hear Melinda smile or hear her laugh,” Cindy Thao said. “We will never know what Leona looks like or who she will become.”

Richardson gave a statement apologizing for her actions that led up to the crash.

“I know that my actions cannot be reversed, and my heart breaks every day that I wake up reminded of what I did,” Richardson said. “Melinda was going to be a mommy, and it’s so not fair that the lives of Melinda and Leona were lost. Chris was going to be a dad, and I’m so sorry that that was taken from him.”

At Friday’s hearing, Gibbs said Richardson’s decision to plead guilty and spare Melinda Thao’s family from reliving the events at trial earned her a downward dispositional departure on one of the counts.

Gibbs also factored in letters of support for Richardson from family, friends and her jail social worker, as well as her acceptance into a residential treatment program and attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and Bible study.

SOURCE: abc KSTP.COM