Wrong-Way Driver Asks for Leniency after Deadly Crash

MCKINNEY, Texas - Jurors are deliberating on a sentence for a young woman who casued a deadly crash on a North Texas tollway last year.

The jury spent more than four hours Thursday deliberating the sentence for Mariza Martinez. But they did not come to a decision and will have to wrap up the punishment phase of her trial on Friday.

Martinez was found guilty of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault. Prosecutors said she was drunk when she drove the wrong way on the Dallas North Tollway.

She crashed into the car driven by 16-year-old Kara Taylor, killing her and injuring her best friend.

Martinez told the jury during the trial that she does not remember getting in her car that night after a wedding reception in Plano.

Martinez faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Her defense attorney told the jury the young mother admits she made a mistake. But he blamed the teen victim for being out late at night.

’She was going 95 or more miles per hour down a freeway on a Saturday night after midnight. Plus she had a provisional driver’s license which meant that she was not permitted to drive after midnight,’ said Attorney Frank Jackson.

Taylor’s family is infuriated by the argument.

’The defendant herself said Kara had nothing to do with it which is the truth. No matter what, the defendant was going the wrong way. She was intoxicated and she caused a death,’ said Christie Roberts, the Taylor family spokeswoman.

Since the crash the North Texas Tollway Authority has installed several wrong way reflectors and signs along the freeway, including near the ramp where Martinez got on.