A mother, an aunt and a half-sister described Monday in court the profound grief they endured in the wake of a triple-fatal crash in Amherst in February of last year.
The mothers of an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old who were killed were too distraught to return to work, which cost them their jobs and, eventually, their homes.
The mother of the 19-year-old woman who died described the toll on the three siblings her eldest daughter left behind.
An Erie County judge on Monday sentenced the driver who caused the deaths, Jayla L. Mueller, to 1⅓ to 4 years in prison for what she called the “tragically rash and hasty act of a youthful mind.”
Judge Susan Eagan also granted Mueller youthful offender status, which limited her potential sentence.
Mueller, 19, of Colden, was behind the wheel of a 2018 Dodge sedan at 11:22 p.m. Feb. 20, 2023, when she lost control on a ramp from John James Audubon Parkway to Millersport Highway, causing her car to leave the road and overturn, according to police and prosecutors.
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Data recovered showed the car was traveling 108 mph five seconds before the crash, according to a spokeswoman for the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
Mueller’s cousin, his girlfriend and their friend – three of the four passengers – were ejected from the car and declared dead at the scene. They were Dakota Eldridge, 20, of Cheektowaga, Isabella French, 19, of Buffalo, and Azathiel Pabon, 18, of Buffalo.
Mueller and a fourth passenger were injured and transported by ambulance to a hospital.
The driver and surviving passenger were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. There was no evidence the three passengers who were ejected and killed, who were sitting in the back seat, were wearing seatbelts, the District Attorney’s spokeswoman said.
Mueller pleaded guilty in April to three counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of reckless driving, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Mueller’s actions were reckless but not intentional, said the judge, who also revoked Mueller’s driver’s license.
While the law allows Mueller to be released before she serves the entire four-year sentence, Eagan said it was her intention for Mueller to serve the entire prison term.
Eagan delivered the sentence in a courtroom filled with about 50 people, most of whom were family and friends of the deceased. The highly emotional proceeding was moved from a smaller courtroom to accommodate the crowd.
Dakota Eldridge, 20, of Cheektowaga, was one of three people killed in a Feb. 20, 2023, crash in Amherst.
As family members delivered victim-impact statements, loud sobs resonated.
Eldridge and French were dating and French was 3 months pregnant when she died, said Tania Eldridge, Dakota’s half-sister, while reading a statement from Dakota’s mother, Kristina Kessel.
Kessel’s sister, Patricia Kessel, is Mueller’s mother. Kristina Kessel filed a lawsuit against Patricia Kessel and Mueller in May.
Known to family and friends as Bella, Isabella French was like a second mother around her house, Johanna French said of her daughter.
Johanna French, left, and her daughter, Isabella French, pictured in the summer of 2022.
Her mother often sought her eldest daughter’s advice on things like what kind of gifts her siblings would like, Johanna French said.
Her daughter was fiery and sweet, “fearless in everything,” her mother said.
“Our sentence will continue long after Jayla has served hers,” she said.
Michelle Czachorowski, mother of Kye Czachorowski, the passenger who survived, described the phone call she received from her son shortly after the crash.
Using a bystander’s phone, her son informed her there had been an accident. She asked if everyone was all right.
“No, mom, I think my friends have died,” she recalled her son telling her.
Michel Colondres, Pabon’s aunt, said she will always remember her nephew as a quiet little boy who had eyes that always looked sad and droopy.
Azathiel Pabon, 18, of Buffalo, was one of three passengers killed in a February 2023 crash in Amherst.
Colondres made his funeral arrangements, picked out his casket and his clothes. She did his hair for his funeral – she said she put it up in a messy bun like he used to wear.
She cried so hard, she said.
“I loved him as if he were mine,” she said. “It still feels like just the other day.”
Mueller, who addressed the court in a 16-minute statement, told the judge she was driving on an unfamiliar road, saw a police car and was told “go, go, go.”
She said she made an impulsive, irresponsible decision.
Mueller, who wiped away tears and twice turned around to face those gathered in the gallery as she spoke, said she was “sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
After the sentencing, Isabella’s mother and father, Damon, issued a written statement.
“Nothing can change what happened or make up for what we lost, but we’re glad it’s over,” the statement read. “We will always miss Bella terribly and hope that kids use this accident as a lesson to drive safely.”
