Judge Sentences Driver To 5 Years In Prison For Deadly DUI Accident
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The driver involved in a deadly DUI accident that killed two homeless men was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.
Police said at around 2 a.m. on June 13, 2013, Alyza Rachel Russell was driving west on Broward Boulevard when she attempted to make a left turn onto SW 5th Avenue and head south.
Investigators said Russell couldn't complete the turn and drove her Porsche Panamera through the hedge of a nearby parking lot.
Mackendy "Zo" Jules and another man, Samuel Martindale, were sitting with another person in the parking lot.
The third person was able to get out of the way, but Jules and Martindale weren't so fortunate.
One of the men struck died on the scene, while the other died at the Broward Health Medical Center.
After the crash, witnesses said Russell kept driving.
The toxicology report from the night of the accident found Russell's blood alcohol level to be 0.17, or more than two times the legal limit.
After years of legal wrangling, Russell appeared before a judge on Friday.
She pleaded to guilty to two counts of DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in state prison.
Russell made tearful apologies inside the Broward courtroom.
During her three years under house arrest, Russell earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and said she planned to work on her master's a while in prison.
The families of the two men killed in the accident won a $2.2 million settlement.