A Missouri woman who was pardoned by Donald Trump last week for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol is heading back to prison after she was sentenced on Wednesday for causing a deadly drunk driving crash.
Emily Hernandez, 25, was seen on video at the Capitol on Jan. 6 holding a broken nameplate belonging to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building for her involvement in the insurrection and served 30 days in federal prison.
But, just six days before she was scheduled to plead guilty in that case Hernandez was involved in a fatal crash.
On Jan. 5, 2022, Hernandez was driving drunk on the wrong side of Interstate 44 for several miles before crashing into another car belonging to couple, Victoria and Ryan Wilson, who were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary.
Victoria, 32, was killed in the collision while Ryan, 36, was seriously hurt and still walks with a cane, according to the St. Louis-Post Dispatch.
“No matter how loud I cried out to her, I couldn’t wake her,” Wilson said in court Wednesday. “I couldn’t reach her because of the air bags.”
Hernandez had a blood-alcohol content of .20 when tested after the crash, more than double the state’s legal limit.
“What I did was ungodly and I will live with that shame for the rest of my life,” Hernandez said at her sentencing, according to the Post-Dispatch. “I am sorry for what I did and if I could take it all back, I would.”
On Wednesday, Franklin County Judge Ryan Helfrich sentenced Hernandez to 10 years in prison for Victoria’s death and seven years for injuring her husband.
Victoria Wilson’s family told local NBC affiliate KSDK that justice was served.
“Nothing will bring her back,” Victoria’s mom, Tonie Donaldson said. “It was some relief to be able to turn and look her in her eyes and tell her how much harm she had really done to us … that’s a choice she made, she has to live with it.”
