NORTH TONAWANDA
Teen admits her guilt in fatal DWI
Published: November 19, 2009, 12:30 am
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LOCKPORT — A North Tonawanda teenager admitted Wednesday that she was driving drunk when she crashed her car and killed her boyfriend on May 31.
Ashley M. Sullivan, 17, of Linden Avenue, pleaded guilty in Niagara County Court to criminally negligent homicide and a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.
Sullivan could receive 1x to four years in state prison at sentencing Jan. 27.
Or she could get five years’ probation, which is the hope of the victim’s mother, Renee Rozicki, who is aware that first-time felons often are released after serving two-thirds of the minimum sentence, unless they cause trouble in prison.
“At least with the probation, it would stick with her for five years,” said Rozicki, who added that Sullivan had lived with her family for a year.
Rozicki’s son Alex, 20, of Niagara Falls, died when Sullivan’s car struck a brick pillar in front of Deerwood Golf Course on Sweeney Street in North Tonawanda.
Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner said the crash occurred on a curve at 2:21 a. m., as Sullivan and Rozicki were driving home from a party.
The car started to go off the road to the right, Sullivan overcorrected to the left and the car hit the pillar, Brenner said.
Her blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent, above the 0.08 percent minimum level for DWI. Brenner said her speed was estimated at 56 mph in a 30-mph zone.
Sullivan is eligible for youthful-offender status, which would not necessarily keep her out of prison but would officially give her a clean record.
Renee Rozicki said she would oppose that. “If she does it again, they can’t hold [the conviction] against her,” she said.
Meanwhile, attorney Robert Viola said the Rozicki family will file a wrongful death suit against Sullivan.
Alex’s cousin Rebecca Rozicki, 12, a North Tonawanda Middle School seventh- grader, planned to read a poem about the case at a school event Wednesday night. It reads in part, “She was speeding. Underage. Drinking. She crossed the double yellow lines. She took his life out of mine. And now he’s gone for good.”
tprohaska@buffnews.com
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