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Woman pleads guilty to homicide by vehicle

A Butler woman pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while under the influence Tuesday in the Allegheny County Courthouse.

Madisyn O'Connor, 25, accepted the plea agreement, which also came with a traffic citation for failing to keep right, before Judge Bruce Beemer.

O'Connor's deal comes with a minimum of three years in prison with a maximum of five years as well as a mandatory three years probation following her incarceration.

According to charging documents, police believed O'Connor was drunk on Feb. 22, 2020, when she drifted into oncoming traffic on Route 8 in Hampton Township and crashed head-on into a car driven by Kaitlyn Marie Eckelberry, 23, of Canton, Ohio.

According to police, O'Connor's blood alcohol content was more than 0.16%. In Pennsylvania, a level of 0.08% is considered intoxicated. Police said they found two cans of alcoholic seltzer in her car.

Eckelberry's family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, naming defendants O'Connor, a Butler County corporation and several Allegheny County bars that allegedly served O'Connor alcohol on the night of the accident.

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