In a grave turn of events, Maryland courts sentenced Lisa Lea to 30 years in prison for her role in a devastating crash on I-695 that killed six construction workers. Lea pleaded guilty to six counts of vehicular manslaughter in November of last year after colliding with another car at speeds surpassing 100 mph and careening into a work zone along the Baltimore County interstate, according to CBS News Baltimore.
On that March day in 2023, Lea’s extreme speed and impaired state—her system polluted with delta-9 THC and the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine—combined to produce a situation that ultimately cost six people their futures. The National Transportation Safety Board’s inquiry revealed that Lea drifted across three traffic lanes before the catastrophic collision, and medical records refuted any claims that Lea had a seizure at the time of the accident. Malachi Brown, the driver of the second vehicle, was also found to be speeding and sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to WMAR-2 News.
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The victims, Mahlon Simmons II, Mahlon Simmons III, Jose Escobar, Carlos Escobar, Sybil DiMaggio, and Rolando Ruiz, were all working in what was supposed to be a safe work zone on the highway shoulder.
In the aftermath, the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration has introduced additional safety measures at a moderate pace, insisting on a protection vehicle blocking work zone openings and keeping an adjacent lane blocked during construction. The Maryland Work Zone Safety Work Group was instrumental in campaigning for these improvements, resulting in the Maryland Road Worker Protection Act, which increased the use of speed cameras and fines in work zones.
