DUI driver gets 30 years-to-life for wrong-way crash that killed sister, best friend, family of 4
LOS ANGELES -- A 26-year-old Fontana woman was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years to life in prison for a 2014 wrong-way crash that killed six people on the 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar.
Olivia Carolee Culbreath had been drinking in the early morning of February 9, 2014. She was a new mom. Culbreath was 21 years old and had given birth only 11 days earlier. She drove against oncoming traffic on the 57 and 60 freeways at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, investigators said.
Culbreath's car slammed into a Ford Explorer on the westbound 60 Freeway, killing four people -- from three generations of the same family -- in the SUV. Two passengers in Culbreath's Camaro, her sister and her best friend, were also killed in the three-vehicle pileup.
Some California Highway Patrol officers said it was one of the worst crashes they had ever seen.
Culbreath's blood alcohol content was measured at .15 percent about three hours after the crash, prosecutors said.
According to evidence presented at a preliminary hearing, Culbreath had previously been arrested for DUI resulting in a collision. She was warned by the court about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and also was admonished that such future conduct could result in murder charges.
She was convicted in May after pleading no contest to six counts of second-degree murder, to avoid a trial that would further traumatize the grieving families of the victims.
Her son, now 5 years old, has only seen his mother in jail. Culbreath said no matter the prison time, she will continue to punish herself for the rest of her life.
