STEPHANIE MELGOZA of Illinois was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering two people while driving intoxicated.
On April 10, 2022, Andrea Rosewicz, 43, of Avon, Ohio, and Paul Prowant, 55, of Seattle were sadly died.
Who is Stephanie Melgoza?
Stephanie Melgoza, 24, is an Illinois woman who murdered two people in April 2022 while driving intoxicated.
She was a senior at Bradley University in East Peoria at the time of the tragedy.
In her car, police located a little amount of marijuana, a smoking pipe, and an open bottle of vodka.
At the hearing on April 27, 2022, Judge Rim Cusack said: “What is the appropriate punishment, in order to deter other people; and what is the rehabilitative quality of the person that’s being sentenced?”
In February 2022, Melgoza pled guilty to the four felony counts and expressed regret for her acts.
What happened in Stephanie Melgoza’s car crash?
Melgoza struck and killed Rosewicz, 43, of Avon, Ohio, and Prowant, 55, of Seattle, according to reporting in the Pekin Daily Times from the East Peoria Police Department.
During the hearing, she said: “I’m so sorry for everything, and I will never, ever commit anything like that again.
“I have not drank since that day. I do not plan on drinking ever again.
Multiple family members of the victims were in the courtroom gallery on April 27, 2022, during the sentencing hearing.
One individual, Andrea’s cousin Lisa, presented an impassioned victim impact statement.
According to 25 News, she stated, “Everyone makes mistakes, but not to this extent.”
Melgoza entered a guilty plea to four felony charges, including two counts of aggravated DUI killings and two counts of aggravated reckless driving.
In return for a guilty plea, four additional minor charges were withdrawn.
The relatives of the two victims demanded that Melgoza spend the maximum penalty of 28 years in prison.
She was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Melgoza must serve 85% of her sentence since she was given credit for 120 days of home confinement and two days of jail.
She is visibly inebriated in the clip and upon hearing the news she is seen laughing, in a clip that has now gone viral.
One TikTok user posted that: “They should have played this police cam video at her trial.”
