‘Trail of pain’: Woman sentenced for DUI that killed teen passenger in Las Vegas

Sentencing a woman who drove under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and killed her friend and teen passenger, District Judge Ronald Israel said Monday that he was “sick of” seeing so many DUI cases in Clark County.

“The reality is we can’t try every single case that needs to be tried. There just isn’t the manpower,” Israel said before ordering Alyssa Scott, 22, to serve three to 10 years in prison.

Marilyn Amilia Rodriguez, 18, died in the Oct. 25 crash.

The judge added that imposing a sentence was tough, given the defendant’s and victim’s ages.

“Unfortunately, because people don’t think — and drinking and driving in Clark County isn’t taken as seriously as it is in some other states — no matter what I do, it’s up to the Legislature to reduce the number of DUIs,” Israel added. “As I said, I’m sick of having these.”

While the judge spoke, Scott, whose face had turned red from crying, looked down and picked at her fingernails. She wore a blue jumpsuit, and her handcuffs were removed only for the duration of her hearing.

Scott pleaded guilty to one count of driving or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence, resulting in death.

‘A nightmare mistake’

Earlier in the hearing, Scott was allowed to read a letter to the court. In her statement, she called the early morning crash a “nightmare mistake.”

“There is no apology sufficient to justify my actions, and there is no sentence that can repair what has already been done,” Scott mumbled while crying. “My mind has become a prison — and that is not an attempt to avoid accountability for what I’ve destroyed.”

Scott was traveling south in the northbound far left travel lane of Interstate 11, just north of Boulder Highway, when the vehicle she was driving collided head-on with a northbound 2012 Cadillac CTS.

“All I am asking for is the consideration of the price I have already paid and will continue to pay for the rest of my days,” Scott told Israel.

Afterward, Scott’s lawyer, Thomas Boley, told the judge that his client had not been in trouble with the law before the fatal crash and had already completed counseling while in jail.

“At the end of the day, there was a fairly low level of intoxication here. I think she is rehabilitatable,” Boley said.

More than a dozen of Rodriguez’s relatives, including her mother, Stephanie Rivera, and aunt, Jenny Chicas, sat in the gallery during the hearing. They passed tissue boxes around while Chicas and Rivera gave impact statements.

“Accidents happen, and people make mistakes,” Chicas said. “But when you have someone in your care, and you promise to take care of this person, that’s not an accident. That’s not a mistake.”

She also expressed frustration over what she called a lack of remorse on Scott’s behalf.

“The damage is done for us, and we ultimately won’t get what we really want, which is our Marilyn back,” Chicas added. “I just feel that people keep doing these things because they’re not getting caught, and by the time they do, it’s late, and there’s a whole trail of pain left behind.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.