Global Courant 2023-05-06 20:10:52
An Illinois woman who giggled and smiled after killing two people in a drunk driving accident in 2022 was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison.
In disturbing police CCTV footage obtained by Fox News Digital, 24-year-old Stephanie Melgoza can be seen singing and laughing after the tragic collision.
Melgoza, whose blood alcohol level was .264 — more than three times the legal limit — showed no concern when an officer told her she had fatally beaten Paul Prowant, 55, and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Andrea Rosewicz.
At the hospital, East Peoria cop Jeffrey Bieber seemed to grow frustrated after Melgoza repeatedly told him she had to go to school the next day.
Stephanie Melgoza, left, killed Andrea Rosewicz and Paul Prowant in a drunken DUI crash in Illinois. Rosewicz, right, pictured with a friend. (Dignity Memorial)
“You want me to be honest with you. You’re going to jail. You have no tape. You killed two people tonight. I don’t think you understand that,” Bieber snapped at Melgoza, who was inside. a hospital bed, after the April 10, 2022 crash.
The former Bradley University student stared at him blankly, then asked if she wanted to make her evening class later that week.
“You’re on body cam being totally careless about killing two people tonight. You don’t care. That’s sad and pathetic and horrible all at once.”
“Did you understand what I told you, that you killed two people tonight?” asked Bieber.
“Yeah, I’m just wondering when I can go to school,” she replied nonchalantly.
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“You’re on the body cam and totally careless about killing two people tonight. You don’t care. That’s sad and pathetic and horrible at the same time,” Bieber told her.
“As a cop, can you say that?” asked Melgoza.
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Yes, ma’am, I can,” he replied.
While the officer waited with Melgoza for a nurse to perform a DUI kit, she danced and sang in the hospital room and talked excitedly about an upcoming trip to Las Vegas for her birthday.
Stephanie Melgoza grins in bodycam video minutes after killing two people with her red Dodge Dart (right). (East Peoria Police Department)
“It’s going to be so much fun,” she gushed. “I’m going to start with two Long Islands.”
“Haven’t you had enough to drink yet?” the officer asked.
“We’re talking about Vegas. There’s no limit in Vegas, right?” she said laughing.
The student also told him that she couldn’t wait to join the “DUI Club” and asked for her phone so she could text all of her co-workers because, according to the police report, they’ve all had a DUI.
Photo combination of Paul Prowant and Andrea Rosewicz who died in a DUI accident in April 2022. (Dignity Memorial)
Earlier that night, Melgoza called 911 after hitting the couple at around 10 p.m. Full Throttle outside the bar
Officers responding to the gruesome scene found her red Dodge Dart with a severed leg “sticking out of the grill,” according to a police report.
Melgoza watched without emotion as paramedics tried in vain to resuscitate the victims.
Stephanie Melgoza’s booking photo, left, and a still from body camera footage of her smiling and giggling during a sobriety test in the field after killing two people in a DUI accident. (East Peoria Police Department)
She told officers she had had three vodka drinks and had “just started her night” when she punched victims outside Full Throttle.
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According to the police report, an open bottle of Tito’s vodka was found on the floor of her car.
“I’m graduating in four weeks – is this going to affect anything?” she asked an officer at the crime scene.
Stephanie Melgoza had a blood alcohol level of .264 — three times the legal limit — minutes after she killed a couple with her car in Illinois. She is shown taking a breathalyzer test. (East Peoria Police Department)
Melgoza pleaded guilty in February to two counts, each of aggravated DUI and aggravated reckless driving.
She apologized at her sentencing. “I am so sorry for everything, and I will never commit such a thing again,” she told the court, according to the Pekin Daily Times. “I haven’t had a drink since that day. I don’t plan on drinking ever again.”
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Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
Rebecca Rosenberg is an accomplished journalist and author of books with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to rebecca.rosenberg@fox.com and @ReRosenberg.