DUI Crash That Killed 4 Men On I-75 Lands Woman In Prison: Brodsky

SARASOTA, FL — A woman who killed four men changing a flat tire on Interstate 75 in Sarasota two years ago will spend nearly 40 years in state prison, according to a news release from State Attorney Ed Brodsky’s office.

Chiniceia Carter, 37, was drunk and had a blood alcohol content of .161 — more than twice the legal limit — at the time of the July 15, 2021, crash, the state attorney said.

She pleaded no contest to four separate counts of DUI manslaughter on June 23.

On the night of the crash, Carter was driving home from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, heading south on I-75. She drove off the road and crashed into a truck with a trailer that was stopped on the shoulder because of a flat tire, killing four of the men standing near the truck.

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Circuit Court Judge Donna Padar sentenced the Carter to 39.84 years in the Department of Correction for each count, to take place concurrently, which includes a four-year minimum mandatory sentence.

Though the court found that she “showed remorse for her actions, the ‘utter carnage’ of the crash, coupled with the defendant admitting to drinking alcohol while on pretrial release were the reasons that the court found it not appropriate to grant (her) a ‘downward departure,’” the news release said.

“The death of these four men were absolutely avoidable,” Joshua Wertheim, assistant state attorney and lead prosecutor on the case, said. “Too many innocent people, including children and adults, are killed by drunk drivers in Sarasota. As a result of the defendant’s actions to drink and then get behind the wheel of a car, four young men are now dead … The court’s sentence is a reflection that our community will hold those drivers accountable.”

He added, “There were lots of options the defendant had: She could have called an Uber or a taxi, she could have called a friend, she could have stayed the night and slept it off, she could have called for help, but she chose to drink and drive. Make the right choice, the simple
choice. Your choice not to drive will keep you and others alive.”