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Driver In DUI Wreck That Killed 1 Gets 17 Years

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 23, 2008

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Katrina McGarrah

CLEARWATER - A woman was sentenced to 17 years in prison this afternoon in a drunken driving wreck that decapitated one of her teenage passengers. The other teenage passenger suffered a broken jaw.

The sentence was the maximum sought for Katrina McGarrah by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office after she entered a plea in March, said Assistant State Attorney Aaron Slavin, who prosecuted the case.

On March 7, McGarrah, 36, pleaded no contest to manslaughter while driving drunk, a separate charge of drunken driving, and possession of marijuana, court records show.

On May 14, 2007, McGarrah was driving her mother's 2007 Nissan Altima at more than 75 mph in a 30 mph zone in the 3600 block of 37th Street South, court records say. The Nissan struck a raised median, rotated, struck a tree, went airborne, and landed and hit another tree, court documents say.

Roderick McCollough, a 16-year-old who was riding in the back seat, was decapitated, Slavin said. Passenger Emmitt Carter, 16 at the time, was riding in the front seat and suffered a broken jaw.

McGarrah's blood-alcohol level was 0.187, records say. Florida law presumes a driver is impaired at a blood-alcohol level of .08.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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