A LaPlace woman was sentenced to 40 years in jail for causing a crash in St. Charles Parish that killed three people and an unborn baby.
Jennifer Englade, 42, received a 30-year sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide. She was also sentenced to 10 years in jail for first-degree negligent injuring and third-degree feticide, but she will serve that time concurrently with the sentence handed down for vehicular homicide.
Englade must serve 25 and a half years of her sentence without the benefit of probation, parole or a suspension of her sentence.
Englade, who was nearly twice over the legal alcohol limit, 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. As part of her jail sentence, she was ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment.
Marcia Gomez, a family friend of Romishe Mejia-Fequier, read a letter to the court that was written by Mejia-Fequier’s mother, Ariana, and addressed to Englade.
“To her father and I, you took away the jubilant sound of our daughter’s laughter. Our home no longer echoes with the sound of her cheerful voice,” the letter reads. “We will never hear our daughter say ‘I love you’ again. You took away the most loving hugs and kisses a mother could ask for.
“You took away our dreams of watching her grow to be the woman and mother she had set herself out to be.”
However, Ariana wrote that she will not carry hate in her heart because it was not in her nature.
“My daughter would forgive you if she was here today. That is the kind of person that Romey was,” the letter reads. “She didn’t like to spend any of her energy on negative feelings towards anyone. She enjoyed being happy far too much.
“So I forgive you even if you have not had the human decency to apologize for killing my daughter.”
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 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.
“This conviction and sentence can’t undo the unspeakable pain inflicted on the victims and their families in this case, all of which was caused by the criminal actions of Jennifer Englade,” St. Charles Parish District Attorney Joel Chaisson said. We can only hope that the lengthy prison sentence she will serve will act as a deterrent to others who might contemplate driving while intoxicated.”
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