Lexington woman sentenced to 20 years for DUI that killed 10-year-old girl

A woman who killed a 10-year-old girl in a 2019 car crash has been sentenced and told a Lexington courtroom “it was never my intention for this to happen.”

Sequoyah Collins, 27, of Lexington, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Fayette Circuit Court Judge Jeffery Taylor on Thursday afternoon.

Collins was originally charged with murder, two counts of first-degree assault, three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and DUI after she ran a red light while driving more than 80 miles per hour and struck a car with six people in it, according to police and court records. Alexia Gomez Hernandez, 10, died in the crash.

She pleaded-guilty as part of a deal which amended her charges to first-degree manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment and DUI, according to court records.

The crash happened on July 5, 2019, in Tates Creek Road and Lansdowne Drive area.

When Collins had the opportunity to give a statement to the court, she asked if she could face the victim’s family, who denied her in doing so.

Collins said she knows her actions had “horrible, lasing, forever consequences,” and that if she could trade places, she would.

“There is not a day, a moment, or any night that has went by that I haven’t thought about each and everyone of them,” Collins said through tears. “I can’t imagine their pain, and it was never my intention for this to happen. ... I want to help people, I would never want to hurt or take anyone away from their family.”

Two impact statements were submitted to the judge by the family. However, no one wished to speak at the hearing.

Their attorney, Brad Bryant, spoke on the victims’ behalf and said the incident was tragic, and the facts of the case were “stunning.”

“We know that she was traveling in excess of 30 miles per hour at the time and we know that four hours after the collision when they drew her blood, her blood alcohol level was .211,” Bryant said. “We know she ran a red light. We know that as a result of this, Alexia Gomez lost her life. … We ask this court to impose what we believe to be proper sentencing for changing the lives of these families.”

Before Taylor imposed his sentence, Collins’ attorney, Whitney Kirk, said in a statement her client was the most remorseful person she had ever represented.

“This is not a case where she went out with the intent of drinking too much,” Kirk began. “This is not something she did all the time. While I can’t compare the two tragedies, Ms. Collins, who overcame so much to get to where she was when this happened, she has lot a lot too, and she is not a bad person.

“That is what makes this case so tragic for me, because no one wins, everyone loses in this situation,” Kirk said. “I am not at all saying that everyone in that car doesn’t deserve justice for what has been done. But I am going to ask on (Collins’) behalf, because I want her to have a future someday...”

Witnesses who testified to Collins’ character said she grew up in Bell County. Her mother was murdered, her father incarcerated, and she lived with a relative who claimed to have emotionally, mentally and physically abusive to her.

“She crawled out of that life to make herself better,” said Modesty Hudson, a friend of Collins.

Other family and loved ones described Collins as someone who rose up from her circumstances and made her life better. They said she was a passionate, compassionate, empathetic person, who was destroyed by what happened on the night of July 5, 2019.

Police said at the time of the crash that Collins had an “extreme level of alcohol intoxication.” Her blood-alcohol content was 0.211 BAC, which is nearly three times higher than the legal limit of 0.08, officer Stephen Dabkowski previously said in court testimony. Dabkowski also said Collins had cocaine metabolites in her system.

Gomez Hernandez died at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital about four hours after the crash, according to the coroner’s office. Five of the six people in the Acura that was struck by Collins’ Lexus were injured. Most of the injured were children, including one who had a broken femur and another whose femur and hip were broken.