California woman gets six-year sentence for fatal 'texting' crash

Associated Press Report

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By WSBT 24/7 News

Story Created: Apr 4, 2009 at 12:16 PM EST

Story Updated: Apr 4, 2009 at 12:16 PM EST

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — A woman who crashed into a line of stopped vehicles while text-messaging on her cell phone has been sentenced to six years in a California prison for killing a woman in one of the vehicles.

Deborah Matis-Engle was sentenced Friday by a judge in Redding, Calif.

Investigators said Deborah Matis-Engle was speeding and text messaging when she slammed into the vehicles stopped at a construction zone in August 2007.

Shasta County prosecutor Stephanie Bridgett said the 49-year-old woman had paid several bills by cell phone in the moments before the crash.

She was in the middle of one of those transactions when she struck a vehicle that burst into flames, killing 46-year-old Petra Winn.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Stotter said he will appeal.

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Information from: Record Searchlight, http://redding.com/

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