ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — It was a crash that tore a family apart.
“People think, ‘Oh, if a drunk driver hits you, then you can sue them.’ But what if it’s your mom? Would you sue your mom?,'” said Jennifer Nieves-Hitchcock.
Investigators said Penny Hitchcock was drunk when she hit her pregnant daughter and her elderly mother.
A judge sentenced Hitchcock to 14 months in prison instead of the maximum of 12 years she was facing.
The DUI crash pinned Hitchcock’s 90-year-old mother and Nieves-Hitchcock between two SUVs.
Her blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit during the crash nearly a year and a half ago.
Nieves-Hitchcock said to this day, her mother, a lifelong school teacher, still hasn’t apologized.
“I’m sitting on my bumper, pregnant. My knee is blown out; I’m bleeding,” Nieves-Hitchcock said as she described what happened in October 2013.
Hitchcock drove from Miami to Orlando for Nieves-Hitchcock’s baby shower.
She and her grandmother were in the driveway, and she said Hitchcock pulled in and just didn’t stop.
“She was so drunk, she couldn’t put it in reverse,” Nieves-Hitchcock said.
Both victims have serious leg injuries.
“Those are screws that reinforce a metal plate,” Nieves-Hitchcock said.
Nieves-Hitchcock was eight months pregnant and had to have an emergency cesarean section.
Her son, Nikolas, was born premature, and she couldn’t see him for a few days.
“It’s really torn the family apart because they’ve had to take sides. And it’s not a day for anyone to be happy,” she said.
Nieves-Hitchcock said the family tried to get her mother help for drinking in the past, but it wasn’t enough.
Now she’s hoping prison will help and that others will see the devastation something like this can bring.
“It’s not like, ‘Yes! My mother is going to jail.’ It’s more or less I’m ready to move on with my life. I’m ready to put this behind me,” she said.
When Hitchcock gets out of prison, she will be on house arrest for 22 months.
She was allowed to take early retirement from Miami-Dade schools.
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