Coarsegold woman pleads guilty in fatal crash that killed her mother, other driver
A Coarsegold woman will be sentenced to nearly 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty to a DUI collision that killed her mother and another woman in 2018.
Sasha Marie Watson pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of her mother, Heidi Lynn Vanzeyl, and Karrie Lynn Petersen, according to the Madera County District Attorney’s Office. Watson also pleaded guilty to DUI, child endangerment and other counts on Feb. 11.
Watson was driving a Ford Fusion west on Highway 145 with Vanzeyl and two minors at 10:43 a.m. Sept. 7, 2018, when she drove into the oncoming lane of traffic attempting to pass two vehicles.
Watson then collided head-on with a Hyundai Accent driven by Petersen. Peterson, 51, and Vanzeyl, 53, died at the scene; both were residents of Oakhurst. Watson and the two minors were injured in the collision.
Watson was treated by emergency staff and admitted she had smoked methamphetamine before driving that morning. Testing confirmed her drug use, the DA’s office said.
She’s expected to be sentenced to niine years and eight months in state prison, according to the DA’s office.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
