Driver Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

COURT HOUSE – A Woodbine woman who took Xanax before causing a car crash that killed a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced July 14 to nine years in state prison. 
Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue sentenced Jillian Elliott, 34, after hearing tearful testimonies from Elliott and the family of the crash victim, Karen Davies, 70.
Donohue noted Elliott’s history of heroin, cocaine and prescription drug use, and that she already had four driving while intoxicated arrests in the six months before the crash.
Elliott pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, but her plea bargain permitted a sentence of second-degree, with a waiver of appeal.
Nine years is an “extraordinary amount of time to contemplate,” Donohue said. Elliott must serve 85 percent of the sentence of which she is subject to five years parole upon release.
“Miss Elliott has to carry a great burden with her,” but it is not as great as that of the family, Donohue said.
Seeks Leniency
“There are no words of regret that can express how I feel,” Elliott said through tears in her unedited statement. “I was not myself…Only I am to blame…I can only ask the court for leniency.”
On June 29, 2016, Elliott was driving east on Route 83 in a green Ford Expedition. Elliott said she was en route to Cape Counseling when she looked down to see if she had her driver’s license with her. She said she took Xanax, for which she didn’t have a prescription, the night before.
Elliott crossed the center line and struck a white Toyota Four Runner. Davies’ daughter Lydia Williamson was driving Davies and Williamson’s infant, Charlie, home to Pennsylvania from their Avalon beach house.
Crash Recalled
Williamson recounted how she blared the horn for four seconds, but the SUV barreling at her did not waiver.
“A moment before impact, I heard my mother scream as I pulled the wheel of our white SUV to the left,” Williamson stated. “When our vehicle came to a stop, and I began to open my eyes, I said, ‘Are you okay, Mom?’ Then I looked over. My beautiful mother was lifeless in the seat beside me.”
Williamson, covered in glass from the windshield, jumped out shouting for help but said Elliott did nothing.
An off-duty corrections officer had rescued Charlie before police called for a medic. Davies was airlifted to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City while Williamson and Charlie were taken by ambulance.
At the Hospital
When Davies’ daughter Erika Swarthout arrived at the hospital, a chaplain told her and Williamson it was time to say goodbye.
“Her body was crushed by your car, by your attitude, by your careless decisions,” Williamson said to Elliott. “She was barely recognizable.”
Swarthout stated that Davies wanted to donate her body to science, but her organs were too badly damaged.
Mom Deserved Better
“My mom deserved better than this,” Swarthout said to Elliott. “I need you to carry this burden with me.”
The next day, Davies’ family learned Elliott was high when she crashed, that she had hit someone else 10 days before the accident, and that she fell asleep in the police cruiser.
“You could have changed your life after your first DWI crash, after your second DWI crash, after your third DWI crash, after your fourth DWI crash,” Williamson said to Elliott. “But, after your fifth DWI crash, you changed mine.”
Enablers
Davies’ son Graham blamed the individuals who provided Elliott with drugs; Elliott’s family who let her addiction “spiral out of control;” her friends who enabled her; the officer who let Elliott go free after an intoxicated fender bender in a Wendy’s drive-thru; the “slow” results of the toxicology lab that “allow offenders freedom to continue criminal activity;” and a “woefully inadequate and underfunded” state court system for the tragedy.
“You, to me, are a murderer,” he said to Elliott.
In their statements, Davies’ family expressed wishes that Elliott would change her life and help prevent future tragedies.
“I hope you serve as a warning to others about what can happen,” Williamson said. “I hope people who know someone as out of control as you were step up and take car keys.
Make Up for the Hurt
“I hope that one day you will do some good in the world to make up for all the hurt,” she said.
Swarthout implored Elliott, who has four children, to “be the kind of mom that my mom was.”
Elliott, whose family was present for her sentencing, told the court as an inmate in county jail, she shared food and clothes with other inmates, before stating she would spend her life trying to be a “better person.”
Mentor, Volunteer
Davies was an alum of the University of Pennsylvania who earned her master’s degree in landscape architecture from Syracuse University.
She mentored students at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art where she was certified, and outside of volunteering, she enjoyed meditation.
To contact Taylor Henry, email thenry@cmcherald.com.