Woman In Fatal DUI Case Free After 4 Years In Detention Facilities
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman who killed a teenager and injured another in a drunk driving crash in Lakewood five years ago is free after spending several years in a juvenile detention facility.
Nanette LaFleur pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in a drunk driving collision which killed Samara Stricklen and seriously injured Seth Mutschler. Stricklen was 17 at the time.
Police say LaFleur crossed the center line of a street in Lakewood in March 2007 and crashed into the other car. Her plea deal allowed her to serve four years in youth offender services even though she entered her guilty plea as an adult.
Mutschler's mother Jeanne Schlaht marked LaFleur's release by visiting what's left of her son's car, which is now used at schools to show teens the consequences of drinking and driving.
"I look at it like it's someone else's life and then I come here and see my son's car and the life that was taken in it and it's really hard," Schlaht told CBS4.
Schlaht said she still has mixed emotions when thinking of what LaFleur did. She said she wishes LaFleur would give "a true apology from the heart" perhaps in the form of a handwritten note.
"I do forgive her. It doesn't mean I am not angry, but I forgive her," Schlaht said.
LaFleur had been drinking and smoking marijuana the night of the crash. She asked a friend to switch places with her after the crash.
Liquor store clerk Van Pham was recently released from prison after serving a year and a half for selling the liquor that LaFleur drank that night.
LaFleur was not only drunk the night of the crash; she also tested positive for pot and methamphetamine six times while free on bond after the crash.
CBS4's attempts to interview LaFleur were unsuccessful on Wednesday.
