The voice and contributions of a passionate woman with a zest for life were taken away from friends and colleagues when she was killed in an October 2005 crash involving her motorcycle.
Gabriella Muelher-Roosevelt, 45, of Edmonds led a meaningful life, not only as a research coordinator in the anesthesiology department at the University of Washington, but also as a grief counselor for parents who had lost children, a judge was told Thursday.
With the accident, her friends received a “life sentence of silence” from hearing Muelher-Roosevelt’s voice, friend and colleague Sonya DeWitt told a judge Dec. 7.
The statement came shortly before a prison term was given to the young woman who drove the pickup that crashed into Muelher-Roosevelt’s motorcycle.
Mia Erica Gribble, 19, will spend nearly 3 1/2 years behind bars for driving the truck, colliding with Muelher-Roosevelt’s motorcycle and not stopping.
A senior at Edmonds-Woodway High School at the time of the collision, Gribble had been drinking and had the drug Ecstasy in her system, deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said.
Not stopping was a “terrible act” that showed “a lack of personal integrity,” Stern told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry.
Muelher-Roosevelt began counseling grieving parents after she lost her own child, DeWitt said.
In front of a packed courtroom, DeWitt, of Everett, asked the judge not to call the collision an accident. She said that would help to teach Gribble about making good choices and urge her to take full responsibility for what she did.
“Punishment is not the solution, but change is,” she told the judge.
Seattle defense attorney Tony Savage said his client has taken responsibility by pleading guilty in October and by agreeing to the maximum prison term under state law.
“Your honor, the younger we are sometimes the worse our choices,” Savage told the judge.
Castleberry called the collision a “tragedy for all concerned.” He said he wished every 18-year-old could attend a sentencing such as Thursday’s to drive home what can happen because of poor decisions.
“I hope, Ms. Gribble, you take this message and use it,” Castleberry said. “It would be a terrible waste if you didn’t learn anything.”
Part of the plea agreement was to allow Gribble to remain free during the coming holidays. She’s to report to the Snohomish County Jail on Jan. 5.
The truck and the motorcycle collided on Highway 104 at 240th Street SW in Edmonds when Muelher-Roosevelt was en route to work at the university.
Gribble pleaded guilty to a charge of hit-and-run with a fatality.
Gribble fled the accident, did not call for aid and later refused to cooperate with police, according to court documents.
Stern alleged Gribble’s full-size Chevy pickup cut in front of the motorcycle about 5:30 a.m.
Edmonds police arrived at Gribble’s home within minutes of the accident after witnesses gave them a description of the pickup. Gribble would not talk with police or answer the door. After about two hours she came out of her house and was arrested.
Jim Haley is a reporter for The Herald in Everett.
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