A woman who killed her daughter's 16-year-old friend in a crash while driving home drunk from a nightclub was sentenced Friday to at least 16 months in prison.
Ann Marie Ciarcia, 47, who called herself "RoccerMom" and listed nightclubbing as an interest on a MySpace Web page, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, vehicular assault and drunken driving.
The three had been driving back to Yorktown from a New York City club in September when Ciarcia crashed into another vehicle while going the wrong way on the Saw Mill Parkway. Emily Cornish was killed and the other driver was seriously injured.
Before the sentence was imposed, prosecutor Christine O'Connor read a letter from the victim's mother, Carol Cornish, who said she had entrusted Ciarcia "with the most precious thing that ever came into my life or that ever could — the only child of a single mother."
"I forgive you but ... you need to be held accountable for your actions," she wrote.
Ciarcia, clutching a tissue and sniffling, said she was devastated by what had happened and told the judge she hadn't taken a drink since that night.
"I will never ever forget the catastrophic moment ... that I finally realized I am an alcoholic," she said.
Ciarcia said that when she woke after the crash and saw Emily Cornish fatally injured, she said, "Please not Emily! Why not me?"
