Fatal Crash Into Pittsburgh River: New Details Emerge

PITTSBURGH, PA — A woman who died after her car plunged off the Parkway East and into the Monongahela River in January was drunk at the time of her death, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said at a news conference on Tuesday that the autopsy on Jacinta Williams, 31, indicated she was legally intoxicated when the vehicle went into the river.

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He did not indicate what her blood-alcohol content was at the time of her death.

But investigators probing the incident uncovered that prior to the incident, Williams had spent three hours at the Lorenz Cafe in the city's West End.

Williams was traveling east on the Parkway East when she lost control of her 2013 Ford Explorer at mile marker 71.4, which is near the Forbes Avenue/Oakland off ramp. The vehicle went over the concrete barrier on the right berm of the roadway and came to rest in the river.

In a dramatic rescue effort, Pittsburgh River Rescue divers were able to break through the winter ice and remove Stevens from the vehicle.

She was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, where she later died.