How long will driver be in prison for death of Pemberton teen?
MOUNT HOLLY - A judge has sentenced a 55-year-old Pemberton Township woman to eight years in state prison for driving while drunk and without headlights, killing a local teen driver in a high-speed, head-on collision shortly before Christmas 2021.
Wanda Sprague had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and driving under the influence in the death of Kayla Bowen, a 17-year-old Pemberton Township High School senior who lived in the township with her grandparents.
What happened to Kayla Bowen?
The crash occurred on Dec. 16, 2021, near the intersection of Lakehurst Road and Rancocas Lane. Pemberton Township Police Department officers were dispatched to the area at approximately 9:15 p.m.
The investigation determined Sprague had been drinking prior to the crash at the Country Lakes Pub and Grill in Browns Mill and that she had been driving at a speed exceeding 90 mph prior to the collision. Her blood-alcohol concentration taken after the crash was .188 − more than twice the legal limit.
The headlights on Sprague's Chrysler 300 were not on when she crashed head-on into Bowen's car. The teen died at the scene.
Kayla Bowen's family responds
The defendant told the court she had no recollection of the collision and has had several surgeries resulting from multiple injuries from the accident.
At the sentencing, she appeared in a wheelchair as she had during the earlier plea hearing and apologized to Bowen's family an to he own.
Bowen had wanted to be a doctor and was working part-time at Papi's Pizza in the township while in high school, according to her family.
Dinorah "Didi" Jacome, grandmother and legal guardian of the teen, and Jacome's 26-year-old daughter Kelsey gave victim impact statements as did the teen's biological mother, Luz Estrella Castro.
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Kelsey Jacome was the one who had to tell the rest of the family that Bowen had died.
“No daughter should ever have to tell her parents that,” the older daughter told the court.
Jacome said the sentencing was only a tiny bit of closure for her.“Learning to live without her is still very strange. It doesn’t get any easier."
At the plea hearing, she told the court the pending sentence was not enough justice for the victim and was too lenient for "a woman who made a life's decision to drink and drive.”
At what would have been her graduation in June, school officials awarded a $500 scholarship in Bowen's memory to a graduating student planning a nursing career.
Carol Comegno loves telling stories about South Jersey life, history and military veterans for the Courier Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. If you have a story to share, call her at 856-486-2473 or email ccomegno@gannettnj.com.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Pemberton NJ woman sentenced for 2021 crash that killed Kayla Bowen
