Another sad case of drinking and driving. The judge sent a very strong message here. Hopefully, others who may be tempted to do the same, will take heed.
Nanny gets 30 years in kids' deaths
Arizona Daily Star
June 25, 2005
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MARTINEZ, Calif. - A former nanny who ran down a brother and sister on a suburban sidewalk and then fled, got down on her knees and begged for forgiveness Friday before being sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Jimena Barreto, 46, sobbed as she read a two-page apology to the parents of Troy Pack, 10, and his sister, Alana, 7. The children were riding a scooter and a bike on their way to get Slurpees with their mother and friends on Oct. 26, 2003, when they were struck near their Danville home.
Barreto, a four-time convicted drunken driver, was seen drinking the day of the crash and then spotted driving erratically in her gold 1979 Mercedes. She swerved across two lanes without braking and smashed into the siblings. Barreto has denied drinking, but she admits taking a prescription painkiller and a muscle relaxant before the collision.
Judge Mary Ann O'Malley, who had received letters from Barreto's family and former employers attesting to her character, imposed the maximum sentence for the two counts of second-degree murder. The two sentences of 15 years to life, one for each child, will run consecutively.
A visibly distraught Barreto begged for mercy from the judge and the children's parents - who also wept throughout the proceeding - saying she was a good person who had devoted her life to caring for children and never meant to hurt anybody.
"I am deeply sorry I'm the sole cause of the terrible pain you are going through," Barreto said, struggling to get the words out. "I will not stop asking you and begging you and praying for you that you will forgive me one day."
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