A Valencia woman who killed two of her friends while driving drunk in May 2020 was sentenced to prison Thursday.

Diane Elizabeth Read, 38, was sentenced to serve two concurrent sentences of 36 to 72 months for the homicide by vehicle while DUI charges and a concurrent sentence of 72 hours to six months in prison for first-offense DUI.

Deputy sheriffs took Read into custody after Common Pleas Judge Timothy F. McCune handed down the sentence.

She previously pleaded guilty to the charges.

Her sentence in the plea agreement also included paying restitution of more than $253,000 and a $1,000 fine. Most of the restitution — $239,000 — is to an insurance company.

Read was driving with her friends and neighbors, Kimberly Young, 39, and Patricia Collins, 36, in her vehicle on May 17 after a social gathering at Read's home, where alcohol was consumed, when her vehicle smashed into the former CoGo's store on Route 8 in Middlesex Township.

Township police filed the charges, saying her blood alcohol content was nearly twice the legal limit.

Justin Young, the husband of Kimberly Young, and one of their two young daughters made victim impact statements before the sentence was ordered. A court staff member read a victim impact statement from Jack Collins, the father of Patricia Collins, who lives out of state and didn't attend the sentencing hearing.

Young said he does not believe that Read's three- to six-year prison sentence is long enough.

After the crash, Young said he sold his family's home located across the street from Read's home because he didn't want to live near her, and he moved to a different home.

He said his daughters, ages 9 and 10, often cry and attend therapy to help them deal with the loss of their mother.

Kimberly was his soulmate and a great mother, Young said. He said she worked as a teacher.

“We had such a bright future. It was ripped away from us,” Young said.

He said he and his wife kissed or touched each other's hand every time they passed each other in their home.

“I worshipped the ground she walked on,” he said.

He said he avoids spending time with couples because it causes him grief, and he becomes easily angered since Kimberly's death.

Young said his daughters are his primary concern.

“We have found ourselves struggling with life,” he said.

He said he worries that something could happen to them, and they worry about something happening to him.

His daughters have difficulty seeing Read's children in school, he said.

Traveling for work is difficult because he doesn't like having to leave the children.

Young said he takes medication to help with his anxiety and hasn't slept regularly since his wife died.

“She is such an awesome mom. I love her so much,” his older daughter said.

In his written statement, Collins said the accident left his young grandsons, Jack and Robert, without their mother, who is his oldest daughter.

He said his daughter's organs have been transplanted into other people.

“You've taken a precious person from us,” Collins said in the statement.

McCune said the court has received letters from other relatives of the two victims.

Read told the court she accepts responsibility for her friends' deaths. She said she loves them and thinks about them everyday.

“I would give my life for either one of them,” Read said.

She said she can't ask their families for forgiveness, but she hopes to improve herself in prison and help other people when she gets out.

Read said she hasn't had a drink or driven since the crash.

She said she was injured in the crash and is thankful for getting a second chance at life.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella said the case is one of the most tragic he has encountered in his young career. The crash claimed the lives of two wonderful people, he said.

Defense attorney Casey White submitted letters written in support of Read.

He said the crash resulted in the loss of life and tore three families apart.

White called it the most tragic case he's ever had.