A Lynnwood woman who was driving drunk for miles in the wrong lane on Highway 9 in August pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of the driver of a vehicle she hit.
Shenequay Young, 23, who has one young child and is pregnant, will go to prison after she is sentenced Feb. 24 by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Stephen Dwyer.
Young stood before Judge Kenneth Cowsert on Wednesday and admitted driving drunk and colliding with a car driven by Matthew Rubio, 20, of Arlington.
Rubio was killed. About a dozen of his family members and friends attended the brief hearing.
Deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro will recommend a three-year prison term for Young. Under the law, the sentencing judge could impose 21/2 to 31/2 years behind bars.
When she is released, Young will remain under state supervision up to three more years.
Young failed sobriety tests after the crash, and blood tests showed that her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
She admitted to police that she had smoked marijuana and consumed five martinis earlier in the evening, Cavagnaro said.
She told state troopers that she thought she was driving northbound on I-5, not on Highway 9 north of Snohomish. A witness told troopers she saw a white car similar to Young’s traveling in the wrong lane shortly after it turned onto Highway 9 from U.S. 2.
The white car caused several southbound vehicles to move off the road to avoid a collision.
Rubio was driving south on the highway and tried to take evasive action when he saw the car approaching him in the wrong lane, Cavagnaro said.
His Toyota RAV4 veered onto the right shoulder, but the oncoming white car clipped its left front, causing the small SUV to roll over and come to rest on the driver’s side.
Rubio died about three hours later of head injuries.
Cowsert said he considered putting Young in jail immediately.
But her defense attorney, Kathleen Kyle, said her client had appeared at all court hearings and assured the judge that Young has not been driving and that she will appear for sentencing.
Cowsert told Young she will be taken into custody on sentencing day, but decided until then to let her remain free to continue getting her affairs in order.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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