Smith
GOSHEN – The mother who drove under the influence of Methadone and Xanax, crashing her car resulting in the death of her two-year-son was sentenced in Orange County Court to five to 15 years in state prison.
On March 19 of this year, Nicole Smith, 27, of Bloomingburg, tried to
pass another vehicle on Route 17K in Montgomery by crossing over the double
yellow line and running off the road, striking an embankment and a tree.
As a result, her two-year-old son was ejected from the car and killed.
The car seat that Smith’s son was in was not belted into the vehicle
properly and was ejected from the vehicle with the child in it.
“I can think of no more tragic circumstances than a mother killing
her own son,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “The
defendant in this knowingly put opioids in her system; knowingly admitted
that she was high, under the influence and got behind the wheel of a car
and subsequently wound up killing her child,” Hoovler said, calling
the sentence “a fair sentence for the action in this particular
case.”
The DA said the driver of the other car narrowly avoided a collision that could have caused further deaths or serious injuries.
Smith’s plea to aggravated vehicle homicide was pursuant to Leandra’s Law, which deals with the death of a passenger under the age of 15 when the driver is impaired by the use of alcohol or drugs. This plea marked the first time there has been a plea under that subdivision of law in Orange County.
The case was investigated by Town of Montgomery Police with the assistance of the accident Reconstruction Unit of the State Police.
