Woman Sent to Prison for Text Messaging Manslaughter

Doug — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:59:52 +0000

By Jim Schultz, REDDING.COM-Saturday, April 4, 2009 A Shingletown woman was sentenced Friday to six years in prison after being convicted last month of gross vehicular manslaughter for ramming into the back of a car in 2007 while texting on a cell phone.

Excerpt:

And despite heartfelt claims from Matis-Engle’s friends that she was a caring, loving and gentle person, Beatty said it was clear to her that the woman’s personality changed dramatically when behind the wheel of a vehicle.

“She drove without any concept that people might be in her path,” Beatty said.

Bridgett said that Matis-Engle used her cell phone to conduct three separate bill-paying transactions in the final four minutes before the collision and was in the middle of one of those transactions when she slammed into Winn’s car.”

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Woman Sent to Prison for Text Messaging Manslaughter