Felony DUI Charges In Crash That Killed Woman, 36, Son, 13
CHICAGO (STMW)-- A Far South Side woman has been charged with felony driving under the influence for a car crash that claimed the lives of a mother and son last winter.
Lavashia Penn, 36, and son Damari McCaster,13, had just attended the funeral of Damari's paternal grandmother when they were killed in the Roseland accident on Nov. 19, Penn's father said Wednesday.
Nancy Spencer, who was behind the wheel of the 1997 Oldsmobile Achieva when it flipped on its side and struck a tree and pole, was initially charged with misdemeanor DUIs.
But when she appeared in Traffic Court on Tuesday, those charges were dropped and Spencer was arrested on two more serious counts of driving under the influence involving a death, according to a police report.
Spencer, 33, admitted to police while she was being treated a hospital following the crash that she had three-and-a-half glasses of Moscato wine, the police report said. Her blood alcohol level was .17, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Samara Spector said.
At the time, Spencer allegedly told officers she only lost control of the car because Penn had hugged her as she drove.
Penn and Damari were sitting in the back seat at the time of the accident at 544 W. 111th Street.
Spencer was traveling eastbound on 111th Street and drove past a stop sign at Wallace without stopping at a high rate of speed, police said.
The car then went around another vehicle and into the westbound traffic lane, where it lost control, hit a curb, then a tree while flipping on its side and striking a city light pole.
The airbag from the driver's side was recovered and sent to the Illinois State Police for testing. The results recently came back, showing that the blood found on the airbag matched Spencer's DNA, Spector said.
Spector said she did not know how the victims knew Spencer but said they are not blood relatives.
In a phone interview from his home in Little Rock, Ark., Clifton Penn said he believes Spencer was a friend of his daughter.
Spencer of the 200 block of 107th Street, was ordered held on $75,000 bail Wednesday.
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