A LaPlace woman who was nearly twice over the legal alcohol limit when she caused a crash that killed three people faces up to 100 years in jail after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the wreck.
Jennifer Englade, 41, crossed a raised median on Airline Highway in St. Charles Parish last May and crashed head-on into a Honda Civic, according to State Police. The driver of the Civic, Romishe Mejia-Fequier of Harvey, was killed in the crash. Esther Centeno, who was pregnant and was riding with Mejia-Fequier, also died in the wreck, as did the passenger in the car that crashed into the two women, Joshua Jones.
Englade had three prior DWI convictions and was in the process of having her probation revoked at the time of the accident.
Last August, Englade was found unfit to stand trial by St. Charles Parish District Court Judge Emile St. Pierre. After a competency hearing earlier this year, St. Pierre ruled that Englade was now competent enough to face the charges.
On Sept. 2 she pled guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide, first-degree negligent injuring and third-degree feticide. Vehicular homicide carries a sentence of between five to 30 years in jail. Third-degree feticide and first-degree negligent injuring each have a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
Mejia-Fequier’s family wrote a letter to St. Pierre and said that waiting for justice has been excruciating.
“I need her, her baby girl needs her, we all need her,” Mejia-Fequier’s parents, Robert and Ariana,wrote. “Sadly, I cannot tell her those things because of the careless and irresponsible actions of Jennifer Englade.”
Rossyni Mejia, Mejia-Fequier’s sister, said the traumatic event has taken its toll on the family for the last year.
“My best friend is gone and she’s never coming back,” she said. “I will never hear her infectious laughter echo throughout our home. How do I describe to my niece the effect that her mother’s presence had in our lives? How do I describe the ability she had to uplift the spirits of everyone in our home?
“She was radiant, optimistic and cheerful. She was always smiling as though she had no reason not to.”
In her own letter to St. Pierre, Englade said that she would do anything to turn back time to before the fatal crash. She added that she has been an addict since she was 17.
“Please don’t take my life away from me. I have had a rough life, from growing up to losing loved ones,” she wrote. “When I was 11 my mom was hit by a car and killed. My grandparents that raised me died.”
Englade will be sentenced on Sept. 25.
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