An Alabama lady has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for a 2021 crash that killed a pregnant mother and sent four of her children to the hospital, one of whom suffered fractured growth plates in both of his legs as a result of the injuries.
“I will never grow anymore,” said Roman Pruitt, victim Audra Rogers’ adolescent son, at Anna Dalrymple’s sentencing in Tuscaloosa County on Monday, according to Patch.com.
During his rehabilitation, the 17-year-old said physicians had to “break” his other growth plate as part of a procedure to treat his different ailments. Reed Pruitt, Roman’s brother, was injured in the incident, breaking his femur, suffering a concussion, and having his spleen ruptured. “I miss having fun birthdays with my mom and brothers,” Reed reportedly stated in court.
Dalrymple pled guilty to reckless murder and first-degree assault on September 30. Following the crash, a toxicology screen revealed that she was on Xanax, Klonopin, methadone, and gabapentin.
“She was high [at the time of the crash],” Senior Assistant District Attorney Corey Seale stated on Monday. “She had no reason or business driving.”
Dalrymple killed Rogers, 36, in a head-on accident on U.S. Highway 43 around the 212-mile marker in July 2021, according to documents submitted by investigators with the Alabama Law Enforcement Highway Patrol. According to the crash report, Dalrymple’s 2007 Volvo XC90 began to cross the center line into oncoming traffic. Prosecutors accused her “cocktail of drugs” for the accident.
Rogers attempted to steer her 2012 Honda Pilot to the right in order to avoid the collision, but she was unable to do so in time, according to officials. She was expecting her fifth kid with her lover when she died. Dalrymple was driving with her own infant daughter, who also sustained injuries.
“I just want to say I am so very sorry for this and can’t imagine the pain this family is going through,” Dalrymple said Monday during her sentence, according to Patch. “I wish I could take her place, and I hate seeing her children up here. I wish this had never happened, and I am deeply sorry for what I did. “I accept full responsibility.
Rogers was allegedly a beauty queen and powerlifter, according to her obituary. She had been crowned Ms. Alabama Tourism 2021 and held three state powerlifting records, but her family said she loved being a mother the most.
“Those kids were her whole life,” said Rogers’ mother, Katie Bramlett, in court on Monday. “After having them, she worked evenings because she did not want them to attend day care. So she’d work all night, care for the kids, sleep, and then return to work. She was like, ‘Nobody’s looking after my kids but me.’ She was a very cool parent.”
Dalrymple was charged with reckless murder, assault in the first degree, and domestic violence in the first and third degrees (reckless endangerment), according to court records, before accepting her plea offer. Domestic violence and other assault charges were dropped as part of the accord.
Dalrymple was sentenced to 20 years in jail with a five-year split for reckless homicide, ten years for first-degree assault, and a two-year split sentence, according to Patch. Her divided sentences will run in sequence, but her original sentences will run concurrently.
