KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Smithville woman was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison in a drunk driving crash that killed her 5-year-old daughter in June 2018, according to Platte County prosecutors.
Samantha Jones, 32, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of driving while intoxicated. On the evening of June 24, 2018, Jones left a gathering in Camden Point and lost control of her vehicle near Missouri East Highway and Skinner Lake Road.
The car’s rear passenger side door hit a telephone pole, breaking the pole into two pieces.
Jones’ daughter, Macklyn Lucas, was belted in a car seat on the rear passenger side. She suffered a traumatic head injury in the crash and died days later at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
According to Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd, Jones admitted to drinking as much as two bottles of wine on the night of the crash. About 45 minutes before leaving the party, she posted photos on social media of full wine glasses, along with the hashtag #momsneeddrinks.
Her blood-alcohol level was 0.186 about two hours after the crash — more than twice the legal limit to drive of 0.08.
Zahnd said dozens of people attended Friday’s hearing in support of Jones, and her attorney read letters from several people that said Jones should not go to prison because she “would punish herself more than prison ever could.”
Zahnd argued that Jones deserved prison time for her role in the crash.
“If we treat DWI cases — especially those where someone has been killed — with a slap of the wrist, there is little left to deter would-be drunk drivers from taking the risk of driving home when they’ve been drinking,” he said, according to a news release.
