KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasJessica Williams Accident: Two Years Later

Jessica Williams Accident: Two Years Later

(March 18) -- Tuesday marks the second anniversary of a terrible auto accident that took the lives of six local teenagers. It was on this day that a van driven by 20-year-old Jessica Williams slammed into the teenagers on Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas.

The teens were in the middle of the freeway picking up trash as part of a county work program.

Williams later admitted that she had smoked marijuana a few hours before the accident and claimed she had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving back from the Valley of Fire.

A jury found that Williams was not driving while impaired, but under a new state law, because she had traces of marijuana in her system, she was sentenced for driving under the influence and is now serving a term of up to 42 years.

Families Remember Teens Killed in I-15 Crash

It was two years ago that a twenty-year old named Jessica Williams hit and killed six valley teens as they picked up trash on Interstate 15. The victims' families gathered over the weekend to remember their loved ones. Brigitte Smith's fourteen year old son Anthony was one of those killed.

"His memory to me is good, its real good and I gotta stay alive for him, and for my other son, and this is what he would want me to do" says Smith.

Williams fell asleep while driving and after smoking marijuana. She's now serving up to forty eight years in prison. Dale Booth lost his daughter Jennifer and hopes Williams case has sent a message to all young people.

"Take responsibility for your actions and definitely think before you get behind the wheel, drinking or doing drugs, cause it could affect other people's lives which happened here," says Booth.

Since the accident there've been other changes as well the Clark County Juvenile Probation Office no longer assigns kids to highway clean ups or other dangerous spots.

Assistant Probation Manager Beth Marek says her department has not forgotten what happened.

Marek adds, "You will never forget something like that, its something that stays with you for a lifetime. "

Still, not all teens have learned from this tragedy 18 year-old Christine Kozar tells Channel Eight there are still plenty of kids who get behind the wheel of a car while impaired from alcohol or drugs. Kids who are risking the lives of everyone on the road.

Christina Kozar is a valley teen, "They come back saying oh I got a ticket for speeding I got a D.U.I. and they like to show it off but its not funny, but when you take a life you feel so bad I can't imagine how the pain was."

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