A San Diego mother who was high on drugs when she crashed her car into a telephone pole, killing her 3-year-old daughter, was convicted of multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter and child abuse, the San Diego County District Attorney's office said.
Brandy Teague, 32, was behind the wheel of her Hyundai Electra in the April 4, 2015 crash that killed her daughter, Carlee Ramirez. The tot was not buckled into her car seat properly before the deadly collision on Broadway in El Cajon, a city in east San Diego County, the medical examiner's office said.
Wednesday, a jury found Teague guilty of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of drugs, three counts of child abuse and possession of methamphetamine, the DA's office said. She could spend 16 years and four months in state prison when sentenced on April 1.
Carlee was sitting in a booster seat in the left rear passenger side of the Hyundai when Teague veered off the road and plowed into the pole. While Carlee’s lap belt was secure, the shoulder belt was behind the back of the seat, according to the report.
Although emergency crews performed CPR on Carlee and rushed her to Rady Children’s Hospital, she died soon after. Her cause of death was blunt force injuries to her head and a neck fracture, the medical examiner said, and her manner of death was categorized as accidental.
During the preliminary hearing, El Cajon Police Officer Jeremy Fisher testified, saying he interviewed the defendant's young son, Brandon, in the minutes after the crash, Brandon told Fisher that his mom had been falling asleep at the wheel before the family arrived at a local fast food restaurant for dinner. The boy said he told his mom that they shouldn't be driving.
Brandon suffered a gash to his left eye, felt sore in his chest and arm, and told Fisher he was having trouble breathing following the crash.
