A Ramsey County judge sentenced a 21-year-old woman to jail as an alternative of prison Thursday for causing a crash that killed her passenger near a St. Paul freeway ramp in 2021.
Reshawna Eunique Mosley was given nine months within the Ramsey County workhouse by Judge Reynaldo Aligada Jr. for the July 22, 2021, crash that killed 19-year-old Shaterries Monique Barlow, of Minneapolis, on the Shepard Road entrance ramp to Interstate 35E south.
Aligada found that Mosley was speeding and drunk on the time of the crash. In an August bench trial, Aligada convicted Mosley of criminal vehicular homicide by operating a motorcar in a grossly negligent manner and criminal vehicular homicide with negligence while drunk.
Mosley, who has no prior convictions, faced a presumptive sentence of 4 years in prison. Aligada stayed the term for five years, during which period Mosley will likely be on probation. Aligada ordered that she proceed receiving mental health and chemical dependency treatment, and attend and complete a Moms Against Drunk Driving victim impact panel.
Family and friends of Barlow and Mosley sat on either side of the Tenth-floor courtroom for the sentencing. Afterward, a girl who hugged an urn with Barlow’s ashes was asked in regards to the judge’s sentence.
“It was silly,” the girl said, adding that she is Barlow’s aunt. “We don’t like what (Mosley) got, but she got something. Hopefully she learned her lesson.”
‘Blacked out’
The crash happened just before 12:30 a.m., when Mosley’s Kia Forte left the interstate ramp, went airborne and slammed right into a hillside, landing onto its roof. Barlow died on the scene. Mosley was transported to Regions Hospital with trauma to her head, knee and liver.
Troopers found a half-empty bottle of alcohol and marijuana in Mosley’s automotive.
Mosley admitted to Minnesota State Patrol troopers that she had drunk tequila before driving, telling them, “I imagine I blacked out,” in accordance with the March 2022 charges.
A sample of Mosley’s blood drawn two hours after the crash showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.085, the fees said. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08 BAC. She also had THC, a component of marijuana, in her blood.
Mosley also admitted to speeding and said that Barlow told her to decelerate before the crash.
A crash reconstructionist determined Mosley was driving 99 mph just before attempting to show onto the interstate and not less than 56 mph on the time of the crash. The speed limit on the ramp is 30 miles per hour.
Bench trial
Mosley waived a jury trial, and Aligada on Aug. 29 found her guilty on stipulated facts, meaning the prosecution and defense presented evidence for him to think about before he reached the verdicts.
“The court finds that Ms. Mosley drove her automotive in a grossly negligent manner, since the facts support a mix of egregious behaviors that rise above mere carelessness,” Aligada wrote in his memorandum supporting the decision.
Aligada acquitted Mosley of three other criminal vehicular homicide charges that alleged she had an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more inside two hours of driving, was under the influence of a controlled substance, and was under the influence of a mix of alcohol and a controlled substance.
Aligada ruled that Mosley’s attorney, Sarah Prentice-Mott, successfully argued the competency and accuracy of the blood-alcohol concentration result, since the test was taken two hours after the crash.
Aligada noted that statutes and case law doesn’t bar prosecution from using a blood sample that was collected greater than two hours after driving. Nevertheless, he wrote, Prentice-Mott “appropriately argues that aside from the BCA (Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) lab report with a test result, the record shows no interpretation of how a lab result taken greater than two hours after driving conduct may relate to what Ms. Mosley’s BAC was through the legally relevant period of inside two hours of driving.”
The judge also agreed with Prentice-Mott that there was insufficient evidence presented to prove if or how the presence of marijuana in Mosley’s system affected her ability to operate the automotive.
“There isn’t a evidence as to when the substance was ingested, or what that quantity of substance in someone’s blood means because it pertains to impacting their behavior,” Aligada wrote.
Mosley was 19 on the time of the crash and living in Minneapolis; she has since moved to St. Paul.
A mother’s grief
Barlow’s mother, Ophelia Barlow, said Thursday in her victim impact statement that she lost her oldest child: “My baby. I’d give anything to have her back.”
She said she was “confused” and mad for what Mosley did.
“I don’t know if the person feels remorse in regards to the situation. There’s plenty of unanswered questions that I won’t get answers to. … She took my first child, my first start of life.”
In arguing for the downward departure, Prentice-Mott said Mosley has demonstrated that she is especially amenable to probation by completing inpatient treatment, engaging in aftercare and participating in mental health services. She said Mosley “feels an incredible amount of guilt and an incredible amount of remorse.”
A four-year prison sentence would likely mean Mosley wouldn’t receive the counseling and other resources “to handle the underlying causes of her conduct on this case,” Prentice-Mott said.
When it got here time to handle the court, Mosley said Barlow’s death “is something I’m going to hold with me the remaining of my life. I don’t think I’ll be the identical again. I’m not OK with just happening like things never happened the way in which that they did.”
Before handing down the sentence, Aligada said the choice he reached Thursday “just isn’t what either side is asking for.”
Aligada commended Mosley for her progress in treatment, adding “you’ve got come a great distance.”
Aligada said he weighed heavily the chance to public safety “and my concern is that if you happen to go to prison without more mental and chemical dependency treatment, you’ll come out more dangerous.”