Woman sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for killing two motorcyclists
November 25th, 2009 by TCPalm.comVERO BEACH — A 26-year-old woman guilty of vehicular homicide of two motorcyclists on Interstate 95 will be serving 18 1/2 years in state prison, a circuit judge ruled Wednesday.
Dominique Brice, of Miami, could have faced up to 30 years in jail for the deaths in 2008 of the motorcyclists who were parked and taking a break along the northbound lanes of I-95 at the juncture of St. Lucie and Indian River counties in the middle of a sunny day on Feb. 29, 2008, .
A jury on Oct. 14 found her guilty after witnesses told of seeing Brice’s vehicle speeding at 87 mph and weaving in traffic while she had her two children and brother in the car.
The vehicle eventually went out of control and struck two men who were taking a break along the highway.
“I know I can’t bring them back,” Brice tearfully told Circuit Judge Robert Pegg before sentencing. “That is my doing. I have a heart. It was an accident.”
Killed in the accident were off-duty North Miami police officer Fritz Doucet, 37, and West Palm Beach computer technician Raul Ortiz. They were recently reunited high school buddies going to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, said Ortiz’s sister, Carmen Sanchez of New Jersey.
Doucet is survived by two sons, Fritz, 9, and Manny, 5, and his girlfriend Abigail Mena, of Broward County.
Pegg noted the accident wasn’t due to a tire blowing out. Brice’s erratic driving became “like a lottery in reverse,” he said. Everyone lost.
Brice told Pegg she was happy that morning. She was going to Georgia to a new home.
“I am so sorry, so sorry,” she said. “I cry and cry and I cry.”
But Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman said at the time of the accident Brice “was a menace on the roadway” and her “lack of caring” led to two fatalities.
Ortiz’s former employer, Donato Montanaro Jr., said Ortiz always smiled and helped people.
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November 25th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Why did this abhorrent woman have to go to trial to be found guilty? She admits she did this–so why didn’t she plead GUILTY?
And why couldn’t she be given something closer to the maximum sentence?! Two people are !!DEAD!! because of her stupidity, negligence, selfishness, you name it. And our courts can’t give her a sentence that reflects the severity of what she did?!
November 26th, 2009 at 5:30 am
She admitted she was guilty. She was young, willful, and w/o any intention of deliberately attempting to harm someone. Her compulsive behavior is contributory in this hellish accident. I do no believe she was a bad person, but only mistaken. This does not appear to be a moral issue, but just a mistake in judgement.I just don’t know why she didn’t just plead guilty and sentenced to 5 years in custody and the remaining time on probation.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:59 am
With the right amount of money she could be attending college up north like that Benjemin school kid who took out a couple cars while drunk with his daddy’s porche SUV.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Young people always have a difficult time weighing the consequences of their actions. This may be in part to the fact they do not get to make their mistakes until they are 21 (with drinking) adults (because their parents are not allowed to discipline them any more) and with driving (because it is too expensive to afford car insurance when you are younger than 21.
People sue police officers saying they were mistreated, a guy pulls a knife on a police officers and gets shot and their family DARES to go public with their biased opinion of how good a person they were. This is why she wasted our tax money instead of pleading guilty. Hoping responsibility and accountability would not matter.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:04 am
She is getting what she deserves. While she is in prison it may prevent her from killing a member of your family. The misuse of the word “accident” is appalling and incredibly disrespectful to the families of the 2 victims of this crime.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:43 am
What a bunch of bull!! Dante Stallworth gets 30 days, he was drunk driving and killed a construction worker. Guess money really can get you out of anything in this country.
November 26th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Good, it is about time the judges start handing out some real prison sentences,it should of been more for the Double Homicide, but better than 5 years & probation.
CARS are LETHAL WEAPONS and it is about time drivers realize that and start paying for their crimes of MURDER just like any other murderer, regardless of weapon.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I was a tow truck driver for 10 years and I saw so many horrible, tragic accidents occur in that time. Some of them could have easily been prevented. My message is loud and clear, DO NOT PULL OVER ON THE HIGHWAY OR ANY OTHER MAJOR THOROUGHFARE UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY !!! If you need a break or need to go to the bathroom hold it until the next exit. This mistake cost these men their lives. IF YOU ARE BROKE DOWN GET AWAY FROM YOUR CAR, DON’T JUST SIT INSIDE THE CAR !! I see these mistakes everyday. There are maniacs out on these roadways and a good amount of them are bad drivers or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. PEOPLE PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR LIVES IN THEIR HANDS…Have a safe holiday.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Presumptive Sentences for Murder
Prior Convictions Sentence
No juvenile felonies or class A misdemeanors 120-121 months *
More than three class A misdemeanors or two juvenile non-person felonies 122-128 months *
Four class A misdemeanors or one adult non-person felony or 3 juvenile non-person felonies 129-134 months *
Two or three adult non-person felonies 135-148 months *
Four or more adult non-person felonies 149-163 months *
One adult or juvenile person felony and no other felony 164-177 months *
One person felony and one or more non-person felonies 178-194 months *
Two juvenile or adult person felonies 196-224 months *
Three or more juvenile or adult person felonies 225-269 months *
November 26th, 2009 at 9:00 am
She may have pled a guilty plea, but it is very possible that the prosecuting attorney did not offer her a plea bargain deal and wanted it to go to trial so that a judge and/or jury would slap her with more prison time. It may also be possible that although she was willing to plead guilty, the plea deal was unacceptable to her defense attorney who gambled that he could get her less time than what deal the prosecutor was offering. In any event, at least it is one more aggressive dangerous driver is off the road for a long time.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:34 am
**WHAT A LOAD OF BS:
EVERYONE speeds on I-95. I call FHP when I see some of the speeders and they don’t care. She wasn’t drunk, she wasn’t high, she was speeding - anyone reading this should know…THIS COULD BE YOU BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS GONE OVER THE SPEED LIMIT AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER AND IT IS ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD THAT IT IS NOT YOU THAT LOSES CONCENTRATION FOR 3 SECONDS AND YOU HIT SOMEONE…IT IS LITERALLY A 3 SECOND MISTAKE. This was purely bad circumstances for everyone. I do not feel that supporting her in jail for 20 years is going to benefit society.
And the 20 years in jail does not mean that I-95 will be safer: STATE ATTORNEY BRIAN WORKMAN…NEXT TIME SOMEONE SPEEDS BY YOU JUST REMEMBER THAT ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD DID THEY NOT HIT SOMEONE AND END UP IN LOSING THEIR LIFE BECAUSE YOU WANT THEM IN PRISON FOR 20 YEARS…INCLUDING YOU!!!
Brian Workman, you should be ashamed of yourself. Even if this was a member of my own family that was killed, I still would not believe that 20 years is appropriate because she was not under the influence and had no previous history of bad driving.
This was circumstantial. Everyone should remember the PLACE. If this case were heard in another jurisdiction then the prosecution would have probably been more fair. In Miami she might have gotten a fair sentence. But this is Vero Beach which is full of people who have nothing better to do than prosecute a case in an attempt to vilify people who speed.
APPARENTLY IN VERO BEACH MR. WORKMAN AND OTHERS *NEVER* SPEED?
UNBELIEVABLY BAD VERDICT FROM INDIAN RIVER COUNTY.**
November 26th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Rich is right ! You would think a policeman would know sitting unprotected on a motorcycle on the shoulder of 95 is just playing russian roulette, sit there long enough and you will get hit. 18 years is like torture to a 26 yr old, its way too much time . The people that got hit share in the blame , but when you hit a cop they throw the book at you , if she hit 2 hells angels she would have gotten 200 hrs of community service. But its still better than the guy who got 45 yrs last week for growing plants!Floridas legal system is joke.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I do agree with everyone, this young girl does need to serve time. She was selfish and accidently killed two guys how were not ready to leave this world and that is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Let’s also think about her children they will be suffering without there mommy. I do think taking her licenes away and some time in jail is what is needed but not 18years. Like some of you guys said, there are people out there driving drunk or on some kind of substance while operating a vehicle, when caught they get a smack on the hand. It’s true younger people these days don’t think about their actions until something impacts them, It’s time to grow up. On the other hand it’s time for others to set an example. No one wants to get involved only pass judgements. I know that first hand, I was a victem of drunk driving.
November 26th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I personally have never understood our “justice” system. Justice may be blind, but she can sure feel cold hard cash in her hand! That’s what this woman lacked.
As far as jail time? What does jail time accomplish for someone who committed a crime based on an accident?
Let me see? A otherwise upstanding citizen made an error in judgement so we should?,…..we should???? I know! They should sit in a concrete cell under horrible living conditions and be subjected to the influence of real criminals and deviants for many years! YES! Let’s make them completely unproductive burdens to society and destroy any chance of that person ever having a meaningful existence!
Sounds like a double negative to me.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
I hope all this 2012 hype is real because I geniunely hate this fricken society!
November 26th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I’m really tired of hearing the sad old refrain that it’s somehow “unfair” to throw people who recklessly took the lives of others into prison, because it will “prevent them from being a productive member of society.”
WHO CARES if they won’t get to be “productive members of society”?! There is the matter that they need to be PUNISHED for what they did wrong! If they wanted to be productive members of society, they needed to keep THEMSELVES out of prison.
You can’t just let everyone use the excuse of “being a productive member of society” as a way to hold everyone in that society hostage to their misbehavior! Because then everyone will be able to do whatever they want, with whatever bad consequences, and then say, “Nuh-uh, you can’t imprison me, because you’ll be wasting the productivity I could give to society.”
Screw that crap.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
what a joke, 18 years. yet a dumb jock gets probation for killing someone drunk. this society is sick.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
[...] BITCH! Women get 18 1/2 years for killing motorcyclists! Woman sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for killing two motorcyclists | Treasure Coast Talk [...]
November 26th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
At least some people here see the logic in this ridiculous sentence.
Workman should be ashamed of himself and that judge to when they sit down to eat their Thanksgiving dinners.
Workman, next time you go ONE MILE OVER THE SPEED LIMIT I hope you realize you’re just as guilty as this woman sitting in jail, a burden on society, her children losing their mother, just because you wanted to flex your legal muscler. You’re a piece of crap.
SHAMS - VOTE THEM OUT INDIAN RIVER COUNTY.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
**I’m going to recant some of my argument only because I have not been able to determine if she has an prior arrests or driving issues.
Does anyone know?
I need to know if she’s had other convictions or driving issues?
Maybe all of us being so judgmental do not have all of the facts?
So I recant my criticism of Workman and the judge until I hear more.
It just might be that the judge and Workman knew more than all of us know???
If anyone has any other information let us know?
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.**
November 26th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
How is what she did different than if she fired a gun in the air and if the falling bullet hit two people?
Why is she getting 18 years when the moron who made a left turn and killed a motorcyclist near my house in Boca raton did not get that much time in her sentence?
It is unfortunately true that if she had more money and a better lawyer she might have gotten probation or just a efw years of jail. No matter what, her children suffer and the family of those bikers suffer, and she was irresponsible.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
The sentence was just. I often see these drivers putting EVERYONE’S life and safety at risk on the highway, weaving in and out of traffic, braking suddenly then speeding up. She gambled and she lost. If you are driving you are responsible for your behavior, no matter what your age. I would suggest, however, that if the victim was not a police officer, the sentence would not have been nearly as harsh.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Terrible tragedy.It could have been avoided by all parties. The young lady could have driven responsibly. And the young men could have chosen to obey the law and not stop along the interstate unless it was an emergency. A terrible loss.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Reality, if it wasn’t a cop that was killed this young woman would serve about 5 years if that long, somehow society feels a policeman’s life is worth more than yours or mine.
November 27th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
To the person who said what is the difference if she fired a gun in the air and killed 2 people? Well firing a gun in the air is senseless and unecessary and you should be jailed for doing it.
November 27th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
We have seen nothing yet! Obama admin has no idea how to fix this mess (90% have not held a real job) As people get more desperate, more killing,stealing and on and on! Our elected don’t give a hoot about us just enough to keep them in office.
About this girl 17 over speedlimit talking probaly texting or talking on phone, they just made a example, But they are not consistant either
November 28th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Sometimes there is just an accident….
November 28th, 2009 at 9:08 am
BRIAN YES ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN PERHAPS WHEN YOU WERE BORN HOWEVER ACCOUNTABILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS HAPPENS AS WELL. WE ALL SPEED AT ONE POINT HOWEVER WE ALL DONT KILL TWO PEOPLE ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND WE ALL MAY OWN WEAPONS BUT WE ALL DONT KILL PEOPLE. HOPEFULLY ONEDAY SOMEONE WONT ACCIDENTLY KILL TWO MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY SO YOU WONT GO THROUGH WHAT THESE TWO FAMILIES WILL ENDURE FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. GUILTY AS CHARGED HOPE SHE ENJOYS HER 18 1/2
November 28th, 2009 at 9:56 am
This type of crime is called ‘depraved heart’ murder. It is the reckless wanton disregard of human life. While there is no intent to kill the law presumes an intent or malicious heart by disregarding the risks to others. This is the same logic for drunk or drugged driving vehicular homicide. The fact is, for anyone who speeds or drinks while driving, pray you don’t kill or this could be you. It’s the law and as someone said there has to be punishment. As for the kid who was drunk and killed in his suv Porsche I can only guess they argued he was a kid and somehow a victim of some adult having served him alcohol but I don’t know. Both are horrible especially for the poor victims and their families.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
she should not get any jail time she did not mean to hurt anyone
November 29th, 2009 at 10:31 am
PJay;
I agree with you, however, the reason she went to trial was the advice of her lawywe. No trial…no payday…even though she wanted to plead guilty. Nice systerm for lawyers…but no one else.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am
FROM THE LOOKS OF IT YOU GUYS DNT KNW HER OR HER CHARACTER. SHE WASNT DRUNK OR HIGH SHE WAS SPEEDING WE ALL SPEED AT TIMES. YES SHE DESERVES PUNISHMENT BUT 18 YEARS IS REDICULOUS. ONLY GOD CAN BRING HER OUT OF THIS , AND FOR ALL OF YOU WHO ARE JUDGING HER GO TO HELL….BECAUSE AM QUITE SURE THAT YOU AS A PERSON MAKE MISTAKES…AND THATS ALL IT WAS A MISTAKE…HAVE FAITH MS.BRICE
December 7th, 2009 at 11:59 am
DONT JUDGE HER, YOU GUYS DONT EVEN KNOW HER OR HER CHARACTER. SHE WASNT DRUNK OR HIGH SHE WAS SPEEDING AND WE ALL DO IT AT TIMES. NYES SHE DESERVES PUNISHMENT BUT THE SENTENCE THAT THEY GAVE HER IS LUDACRIS. GOD IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BRING HER OUT OF THIS…MS.BRICE WE LOVE YOU
December 24th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
[...] Woman sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for killing two … [...]
February 13th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Friends, can you help me? A friend of mine is thinking about buying themselves a new CBR 1000 as their first new bike! They have never rode anything else before! I said this is probably not a very good idea for the first one, but they are adamant! What do you rekon, is this ok and would you maybe then just recommend proper training lessons?