Lexington woman enters plea agreement in fatal DUI crash which killed a 10-year-old girl
A Lexington woman has pleaded guilty for a crash that killed a 10-year-old girl in 2019, according to court records.
Sequoyah Collins, 27, was originally charged with murder, two counts of first-degree assault, three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and DUI after she ran a red light while driving more than 80 miles per hour and struck a car with six people in it, according to police and court records. Alexia Gomez Hernandez, 10, died in the crash.
After mediation, Collins agreed to plea guilty to first-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment and DUI, according to court records.
Collins’ manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of 15 years, with both assault convictions carrying sentences of five years each, according to court records. The wanton endangerment convictions carry a sentence of one year each. A Fayette County judge will decide whether to run Collins’ sentences at the same time or separately.
The crash happened on on July 5, 2019, in the area of Tates Creek Road and Lansdowne Drive.
Police said at the time of the crash that Collins had an “extreme level of alcohol intoxication.” Her blood-alcohol content was 0.211 BAC, which is nearly three times higher than the legal limit of 0.08, officer Stephen Dabkowski previously said in court testimony. Dabkowski also said Collins had cocaine metabolites in her system.
Gomez Hernandez died at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital about four hours after the crash, according to the coroner’s office. Five of the six people in the Acura that was struck by Collins’ Lexus were injured. Most of the injured were children, including one who had a broken femur and another whose femur and hip were broken.
Collins’ sentencing is scheduled for July 28 at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Jeffrey Taylor, according to court records.
