A 39-year-old Davenport woman was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for running down a pregnant woman and driving away.
According to the Lakeland Ledger, Lisa Reilly was sentenced also to serve 10 years of probation by Circuit Judge James A. Yancey.
The accident took place about 7:45 p.m. July 2, 2008, along U.S. 27 near Polo Park Boulevard East. in Lakeland, FL.
Jennifer Prokop, 34, of Davenport, FL was walking on the side of the road when Reilly's red 2003 Ford Explorer swerved onto the grass shoulder to pass a tractor trailer, an arrest report states.
Prokop suffered fatal injuries when the impact threw her body about 70 feet.
Reilly stopped at a nearby Kangaroo gas station moments after the accident, the report states.
A witness confronted her about what she had done, but she denied it and drove away.
Autopsy results showed Prokop was about 10 weeks pregnant with a boy, according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office crash report.
Assistant State Attorney Nicole Orr told the judge detectives had to hunt down Reilly, who was arrested on July 7, 2008.
An eyewitness was able to report enough of Reilly's license plate number for deputies to find her, she said.
Reilly plead no contest Oct. 9, 2009, to vehicular homicide and failure to remain at a crash involving death.
During Friday's sentencing hearing, Prokop's mother, Alana Prokop of Wisconsin, spoke about the pain of losing her daughter so suddenly.
Jennifer Prokop's family is raising the three children she left behind, Alana Prokop stated.
"Shame on you, Lisa," Prokop stated. "You took my daughter's life. Now you must pay."
Lisa Reilly apologized, saying she feels sorrow for the grief that she has caused by her actions.
"Jennifer will always be in my heart and in my mind," she stated.
The defense argued for a shorter sentence, saying Reilly was substantially impaired at the time of the crash.
Defense witnesses testified Reilly had abused drugs and alcohol in her past.
They said she had been sober for about five years, but the death of her grandmother had spun her into a depression and back into drinking.
Mental health experts testified a doctor gave Reilly a prescription for a medication called Clonazepam.
Dr. Thomas McClane, a psychiatrist hired by the defense, testified Reilly said she had taken an extra dosage of the anti-anxiety medication.
As a result, she has a spotty memory of the crash and thought she hit a truck, he said.
"She didn't think she had done anything wrong," said McClane.
According to the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, State governments track and record all sorts of different statistics for almost as many reasons, and when these statistics are reviewed, some can leave the reader nothing short of shocked. One of those statistics concerns the number of hit-and-run crashes in Florida. When these records are broken down county by county, it should come as no shock that two local counties sit near the top of hit-and-run crashes in Florida for the year of 2008.
The following represents those hit-and-run numbers:
• Miami-Dade County (Population 2,398,245) - 18,797
• Broward County (Population 1,751,234) - 9,666
• Palm Beach County (Population 1,265,293) - 4,575
What a tragedy for all parties involved! As a personal injury attorney, practicing in Polk County, FL, I have represented a number of hit and run victims. In my experience, it the at fault driver is not always located. Other times, the hit and run driver is identified but is uninsured. For this reason, it is important to carry Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage on one's own insurance policy. UM coverage is a useful benefit that allows the injured victim to file a claim with his/her own policy in the event that the at fault driver is uninsured or underinsured. UM coverage also applies in hit and run incidents.
