Woman pleads guilty to DUI manslaughter in 2020 crash that killed Lake Worth Beach man, 24

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read

WEST PALM BEACH — A judge has sentenced a Greenacres-area woman to at least four years in prison after she pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and driving without a license in a November 2020 crash that killed her passenger.

Bailey Leanne Horton, 25, pleaded to the charges in the death of Ramon Vazquez, 24, of Lake Worth Beach during a hearing Wednesday before Circuit Judge Caroline Shepherd.

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Previously: Greenacres-area woman arrested on vehicular homicide charge in fatal crash near Jupiter

Horton received concurrent sentences of 11 years and five years and was ordered to turn herself in March 18 with no new violations. If she complies, her sentence will be reduced to the mandatory minimum of four years, followed by four years of probation, court records show.

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Shepherd ordered Horton to complete 100 hours of community service and attend one session of a victim-impact panel, where she will hear from people who have suffered the lasting effects of substance-impaired driving. The judge also revoked Horton's driver's license for life.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Horton had a mix of alcohol, pain medications and sedatives in her blood on Nov. 4, 2020, the night of the wreck. Investigators said she crashed her 2013 Chevrolet Malibu sedan into a concrete pole along the southbound lanes of the Beeline Highway west of Jupiter, near the Pratt & Whitney jet-engine plant.

Toxicology results revealed traces of ethanol, fentanyl and two sedatives, alprazolam and midazolam, in Horton's blood, PBSO said.

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Vazquez died at the scene. Horton was taken to St Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach in critical condition.

Shepherd credited Horton with the 215 days she has spent in the Palm Beach County Jail while awaiting trial.

jwhigham@pbpost.com

@JuliusWhigham

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter-area crash that killed man sends Greenacres woman to prison