'I'm not done with you,' wife tells woman accepting deal for deadly west Lubbock crash
LeeAnn Floyd said she did everything she could to avoid learning about the driver who killed her husband two years ago because she couldn't trust what she would do.
On Thursday, she finally stood face to face with 20-year-old Ebony Constancio and told her that the plea deal she accepted in exchange for her guilty plea wasn't enough and that she plans to go after her through civil court. Court records show Floyd filed a lawsuit against Constancio on March 15 in the 99th District Court.
"I'm not done with you," she told Constancio. "I'm not going away."
Constancio appeared in court with her attorney, Michael Montoya, and pleaded guilty to a count of manslaughter in the April 14, 2022, crash that killed 39-year-old Russell Floyd at the intersection 19th Street and Milwaukee Avenue.
She admitted to recklessly causing the crash by speeding and running a red light at the intersection.
Montoya said neither drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.
In exchange for her guilty plea, she was placed on probation for 10 years. She faces up to 10 years in prison if her probation is revoked.
Manslaughter is a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
She was also ordered to serve six days of shock jail time every year for the first five years of her probation. Constancio will be held at the jail for three days on the anniversary of the crash and another three days on Floyd's birthday, Nov. 7.
Her charge resulted from a Lubbock police crash investigation that began about 3:40 a.m. when officers responded to a collision between an SUV and a pickup truck.
An initial investigation indicated the SUV driven by Constancio was traveling south in the 1800 block of Milwaukee Avenue, while the pick-up truck Floyd drove was heading east on 19th Street. Both vehicles entered the intersection and collided into each other.
Constancio told officers at the scene that she was driving the SUV but couldn't remember details of the crash. Constancio and her two passengers, a 23-year-old man and a 16-year-old, were taken by ambulance to University Medical Center.
Floyd was pronounced dead at the scene.
A crash reconstruction, which was corroborated by videos caught by nearby security cameras, indicated Constancio was speeding and ignored a red light before crashing into Floyd, who was going to work that morning.
Crash data taken from Constancio's Ford Escape showed she struck Floyd's truck at about 65 mph, killing him on impact. That portion of Milwaukee Avenue has a 50 mph speed limit.
Court records show Constancio was arrested on Sept. 9, 2022 after a Lubbock County grand jury returned an indictment against her charging her with manslaughter. She was released five days later on a bond set at $20,000.
LeeAnn Floyd told Constancio during the hearing that her irresponsibility caused the crash that upended her family's life.
"You didn't even touch your brakes," she said. "You took my whole life away from me that morning. You did this to a man that would have given you his life. I'm not here to make you feel like a horrible human being. I want to do that, but he would never want me to do that."
She said the deal she was offered was a slap on the wrist compared to her family's suffering.
"Your judgement is not my mercy - I don't agree with any of this," she said. "This was taken out of my hands, but I believe you deserve way worse."
She described her husband as "the most amazing person, period" who taught her about love, God and mercy.
"I don't want to give you that (mercy)," she said. "He would."
Dozens of Floyd's family members sat in the gallery during the hearing.
"All those people sitting behind there loved him," LeeAnn told Constancio.
She said her daughter, who stood beside her during her statement, cries for her father every night. The couple also has a son.
"I hope your family never has to feel what my family has felt, crying for somebody I cannot give her due to your actions," she said. "I am a single mom working my ass off for my kids because of you. You have a son, imagine that. imagine that you can't make that better for them."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Driver in deadly 2022 west Lubbock crash pleads guilty, wife responds
