A Florida woman was all smiles in her mugshot after allegedly driving drunk and causing the three-car crash that killed a 60-year-old woman.
WKMG reported that Angenette Marie Welk, 44, of Ocala, was driving on U.S. Highway 27 around 11:54 a.m. March 10 when she failed to break, crashing into cars stopped in front of her. According to a crash report obtained by the news station, that Welk’s sedan rear-ended a Hyundai Elantra so hard that it wedged the Elantra between Welk’s car and a semi-truck located in front of it.
While the Elantra’s driver, Shiyanne Kroll, 18, suffered minor injuries, her mother, Sandra Clarkson, was critically injured and succumbed to injuries two days later, the news station reported. Villages News reported that neither Welk nor the truck driver were hurt in the crash.
Welk reportedly told a trooper that she was driving home from a local hotel and was en route to a friend’s house. She reportedly admitted that she had dropped her phone and, when she looked up, realized she was about to crash into Kroll’s car.
According to a report obtained by the newspaper, the trooper noticed Welk’s speech was mumbled and slowed, her eyes were glassy, and her movement was delayed. The trooper reportedly also detected the smell of alcohol.
Welk allegedly failed several field sobriety tests and agreed to submit a blood sample. She was later transported to the Marion County Jail, where she blew two breathalyzers reading .172 and .165 blood alcohol content—twice the legal limit, Villages News reported.
Welk was initially arrested on charges of driving under the influence (DUI), DUI with property damage, and DUI with great bodily harm. Florida Highway Patrol officials said they’re consulting with the District Attorney’s Office to have the charges upgraded to DUI manslaughter, according to WKMG.
Clarkson’s other daughter, Keonna Sciacca, told the news station that her mother suffered brain damage and a stroke. Family members said that Clarkson was deemed paralyzed and brain dead after the crash.
“It’s definitely wrecked our family forever, not just temporarily, this was a permanent thing that [Welk] did,” Sciacca said.
“[I’m] trying to cope with the fact I won’t see her walk again, she won’t be home when I get home from work or in the mornings when I get home from work. I won’t be able to talk to her, I won’t see her laugh, she won’t see me laugh. I can’t hug her I can’t tell her, ‘Goodnight, I love you’ It’s destroyed us.”
Calling Welk’s mugshot insulting, Kroll said, “That disgusts me and that means she has no remorse for what she did at all and I hope that judge sees that picture and says the same thing.”
[Featured image: Angenette Marie Welk/Marion County Jail]
