EVERETT — On July 4, 2017, Barbara Moell was headed home with family after a five-day camping trip.
On the trip, her great-grandchildren taught her songs and games, and she showed them a few of her own from her days in the Girl Scouts.
Moell, 87, was healthy and active.
On the way home, she was struck by a drunken driver on U.S. 2 in Monroe.
Moell suffered 19 fractures, including her neck. At the hospital, she had to be on a breathing tube, and communicated with her family through blinking until she succumbed to her injuries four days later.
On Monday, her daughters described their loss in Snohomish County Superior Court.
When one daughter said goodbye at the campground, she had no way of knowing she’d never hear her mother’s voice again, she told the judge.
The drunken driver, Lorri Arnett, 55, was sentenced to 10½ years in prison for vehicular homicide. That includes a two-year penalty for having a previous DUI conviction.
Judge Janice Ellis followed the recommendations made by prosecutors and the defense as part of a plea agreement in July. The trauma Arnett caused was “devastating,” Ellis said.
“You are going to be separated from society,” she said.
Arnett, of Arlington, was ordered to pay restitution of more than $8,100 for medical bills accumulated by Moell’s son-in-law, who was injured in the collision.
The defense team said that Arnett lives with mental health issues stemming from an abusive childhood.
She had three previous felonies, including a gun offense.
She was three years sober before December 2016, when her mother died and she relapsed, attorneys said.
Testing about 2½ hours after the fatal crash showed Arnett’s blood-alcohol level at 0.21, more than double the legal limit to drive. In addition, the marijuana in her system was three times over the legal limit.
“I am eternally sorry,” Arnett wrote in a letter to the judge before sentencing. “If I could trade places with Ms. Moell, I willingly and surely would!”
She declined to address the court Monday.
Moell had four children and was retired from a telephone company, according to her obituary. She was a member of Grace Bible Church in Marysville, where her service was held.
She enjoyed shopping, going to lunch with her girlfriends, jigsaw puzzles and pinochle.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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