Teen pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter

By Amanda Stewart

Published: July 15, 2008

A Gainesville teen pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter for a November car crash that killed a 19-year-old woman.
Ashley Brook Colter, 18, of 8124 Willingboro Court in Gainesville, pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter for the Nov. 11 car accident that killed 19-year-old Hannah Leigh Boyd of Burford, Ga., a passenger in Colter’s car.
Prosecutors dropped charges of driving under the influence and maiming as a result of DUI.
Prosecutors said that Colter was drinking at a party in the Gainesville area in the early morning hours of Nov. 11.
At some point she and three friends decided to leave the party and Colter drove the group away in her 2000 Volkswagen Jetta.
Witnesses said that Colter drove down Braemar Parkway in Bristow at a high rate of speed, jerking the steering wheel back and forth and weaving back and forth on the road.
The other passengers asked her to stop, but she did not, prosecutors said.
Eventually, Colter lost control of the car near the intersection of Braemar Parkway and Garlock Way shortly before 3 a.m.
The car crossed the median and hit a tree before flipping and coming to a rest on its roof, prosecutors said.
Boyd, who had been sleeping in the rear passenger seat, was ejected from the car and died at the scene.
According to a medical examiner’s report, Boyd died of blunt force trauma and thermal injuries.
Another passenger, a 20-year-old man, suffered a broken arm and other injuries in the accident, prosecutors said.
The third passenger was not injured.
Colter was taken to an area hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
At the hospital, her blood alcohol content was 0.167, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Colter is being held without bond pending a sentencing hearing on Oct. 10.
She faces up to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.