A Denver woman who drove the wrong way on Interstate 25, causing two car accidents that left a woman dead and three other people injured, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison, the Adams County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Elizabeth Long, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of vehicular assault, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence in connection with the July 5 incident.
Witnesses reported Long’s Toyota Rav4 going south in the northbound lanes at 120th Avenue. She struck a vehicle near Thornton Parkway, causing serious injuries to the driver and bodily injuries to the passenger, the prosecutor’s office reported.
Long continued south until striking a vehicle head-on near 58th Avenue, authorities said. Passenger Mary Warren was killed and the driver was seriously injured, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Multiple drivers had to swerve to avoid colliding with Long’s vehicle in the almost eight miles that she traveled in the wrong direction, and Long’s blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.252 percent, the prosecutor’s office said. That amount is more than three times the level at which a person is considered to be driving under the influence.
District Attorney Don Quick said in a statement: “This was not an accident, but rather the result of a conscious decision to drink and drive. Because of that decision an amazing young woman is dead and others lives are shattered.”
Long was taken into custody immediately after being sentenced by Adams County District Court Judge John Popovich.