CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” a Kanawha County woman told the family of a man she killed in a car crash last year.
Latasha Janae Willis, 41, was in Kanawha County Circuit Court Tuesday where a judge sentenced her to two years in prison in connection with the death of Charles Absten.
The accident happened on Cross Lanes Drive in Cross Lanes on June 25, 2016. Willis crossed the double yellow lines dividing the road and hit Absten head on. When police arrived at the scene of the crash, Absten was already pronounced dead.
Willis, breaking down in tears Tuesday, apologized to the Absten family in court. She said she could’ve been killed as well.
“I truly feel their family’s pain because my family could’ve lost me as well. No apology could ever bring back their loved lone,” she said.
Chris Hamilton, Willis’ defense attorney, said speed was the main factor in the crash. No drugs or alcohol were involved. He said she was hospitalized for nine days after the accident. Once Willis found out about Absten’s death, Hamilton said that was all she could think about.
“She has expressed extreme remorse, your Honor, over the death of this man” Hamilton told Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey. “We understand he was a very loved and honored man and she regrets that to this day.”
Willis said she has no recollection of the accident.
“I truly have learned from my mistakes,” she said. “I was on life support for four days before I woke up. I didn’t even know what had happened.”
But Judge Bailey said it was unacceptable for Willis to speed that day, let alone, operate a vehicle. Willis had a revoked license and drove without a license the day of the crash.
“No, I do not believe that Miss Willis set out on that day on a course to cause physical harm to someone else and result in their death, but what we have here is a case where maybe it doesn’t seem like a very big deal to a lot of people, but it always has to me and that is someone who drives a motor vehicle without a license,” Bailey said before sentencing.
Willis said she didn’t mean to kill Absten.
“This tragedy was a simple accident. I didn’t wake up with the intentions to hurt your loved one or anyone else. Again, I’m truly sorry,” she said.
According to her attorney, Willis was driving 68 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. The scene of the accident is located on a downward hill and could’ve played a role in the speeding, Hamilton said.
“I could imagine the number of cars that speed when they go down that hill. Not everybody does, obviously. If your attention escapes you for a little bit, you can get up to 45-50 miles an hour real easy going down that hill there,” he told the judge.
Willis previously pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges in May.
On Tuesday, she was sentenced to one year for negligent homicide, six months for driving on a revoked license and six months for driving without a license including credit for time served. She has already served 154 days in the South Central Regional Jail. The sentences are scheduled to run consecutively.