Woman sent to prison for causing fatal crash in 2021 on Telegraph Road in Erie Township
Causing a high-speed, head-on crash that claimed the life of a 23-year-old man from Erie in 2021 is sending a Toledo woman to prison.
Jamieka Oshyonna Marie Starlisha Williams, age 28, of Toledo was sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison Thursday by Monroe County Circuit Judge William Paul Nichols for causing the crash that led to Tyler Lewis White's death, Monroe County Prosecutor Michael G. Roehrig said in a news release. She pleaded no contest in February to one count of operating with a high blood alcohol content causing death with a prior conviction. Additional charges of reckless driving causing death and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence were dismissed.
A no-contest please is not an admission of guilt but is treated like a guilty plea for sentencing.
The minimum sentence exceeded the sentencing guidelines by 24 months, Roehrig said in the release.
Nichols gave Williams credit for three days already served in jail.
More: Two critical following head-on Telegraph Road crash
A large contingent of White's family members and friends filled the courtroom, Roehrig said. His mother, Treassa Baldwin, "gave a heart wrenching statement describing the loss that devastated her family and much of the close-knit community in Erie. She also mentioned the ‘Tyler White Scholarship Fund’ established at Erie Mason High School in Tyler’s name – a young man she described as touching the lives of everyone he knew."
Williams showed minimal emotion during the sentencing hearing, Roehrig said.
According to investigators' reports, at 1:52 a.m. May 8, 2021, Williams was driving a 2014 Ford Mustang southbound in the northbound lane of South Telegraph Road, north of Minx Road, in Erie Township, the release said. Williams was traveling behind two other vehicles, a Dodge Charger and a Chrysler 300, and all three were traveling at a high rate of speed. The Charger and Chrysler 300 approached two other vehicles, a 2017 Jeep Cherokee and a 2005 Ford Freestyle, which were southbound in the southbound lane. The Charger and the Chrysler 300 successfully passed the other southbound vehicles. However, as Williams attempted to overtake and pass the southbound vehicles, she collided head-on with a 2014 Ford Fusion driven by White in the northbound lane. The impact triggered a multi-vehicle crash. White died later that day at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.
Williams was critically injured in the crash.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office investigators learned that, just before the crash, Williams was traveling more than 111 mph, the release said. The posted speed limit on that stretch of Telegraph Road is 55 mph. Toxicology analysis showed that Williams had been consuming alcohol and had a blood alcohol content of 0.208, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Williams was previously convicted of a drinking and driving offense in 2019 in Ohio and of reckless driving in 2017 in Toledo. The reckless driving offense claimed the life of a passenger in a car that Williams struck, Roehrig said in the release.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jahn Landis and Assistant Prosecutor Alexis Hatch prosecuted the case. Williams was represented by Detroit attorney Mohammed Nasser.
This was “another senseless horror – costing the life of a wonderful young man – fueled by the use of alcohol and the reckless operation of a vehicle,” Roehrig said. “With alcohol and abundant access to legalized marijuana, our community will continue to suffer the needless loss of innocent lives unless people make better choices. If you feel you must use marijuana or alcohol, or both, don’t get behind the wheel."
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Woman sent to prison for causing 2021 fatal crash in Erie Township
