A Prince George’s County jury on Thursday convicted a Laurel woman on six counts of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving in connection with the February 2010 deaths of two men who had pulled to the side of the road to exchange information after a minor fender bender.
Jenny Mate, 32, had a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit and was driving 60 miles per hour when she struck Justo Rosario and Roy Lacoyo. The two men had been involved in a minor traffic accident with each other and had emerged from their vehicles to exchange insurance and contact information.
Mate, who previously had two prior drunk driving offenses, sideswiped one of the cars and crashed into the other with her 2005 Cadillac SUV. One of the victims was dragged under her car until she came to stop.
A Prince George’s County police officer testified that data recovered from Mate’s air bag deployment system indicated that she did not have her foot on the brake just prior to the incident.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 12.
• Matthew Cella can be reached at mcella@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.