A Utah County woman was sent to prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to driving drunk and hitting a tree — a crash which resulted in the death a 4-month-old passenger.
Chelsea Fuller, 29, pleaded guilty in 4th District Court to third-degree felony counts of automobile homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Judge James Brady immediately sentenced the woman to prison on Wednesday, according to court records, ordering her to serve two consecutive zero-to-five-year terms behind bars.
The mother of the deceased child, 38-year-old Susanne McClellan, is accused of holding her infant in her arms in the backseat of the car during the crash. She is charged with class A negligent homicide and third-degree felony obstructing justice in connection with the Aug. 4 crash that killed 4-month-old Brylee McClellan.
The women were not wearing seat belts, according to police, and the child was not in a car seat. Charging documents allege that Fuller was driving McClellan and her child home, and that both women had been drinking alcohol. Fuller had also taken Citalpram, Alprazolam and Ambien, according to charges.
Fuller drove off the road and crashed her car on Oakmont Lane near 800 North at about 4 a.m., according to Provo police.
"McClellan suffered facial lacerations, skull fractures and broken facial bones," prosecutors wrote in charging documents. "The infant suffered massive head trauma, neck and spinal cord trauma and broken bones in her skull, neck and ribs."
The child died about four hours after the crash at Primary Children's Hospital, according to police.
McClellan initially told investigating officers that her baby had been in a car seat and that she "didn't know who was driving," according to charges. Once she learned that her baby had died, the woman allegedly admitted that she knew Fuller was drunk when she got in the car and that the baby was not properly restrained. A man who knew McClellan later told police that he had offered her a ride home in a vehicle with a child car seat, but she refused, according to charges.
Prosecutors alleged that Fuller's blood-alcohol content was 0.233, nearly three times the legal limit to drive.
McClellan is expected in court Tuesday for an arraignment.
jmiller@sltrib.com
Courtesy | Provo Police Department A 4-month-old baby is dead after a crash in Provo on Thursday, August 4.
Courtesy | Provo Police Department A 4-month-old baby is dead after a crash in Provo on Thursday, August 4.
Courtesy | Provo Police Department A 4-month-old baby is dead after a crash in Provo on Thursday, August 4.
Courtesy | Utah County Jail Susanne McClellan
