Pocono News Section

Woman Sentenced for Killing Man While Driving Drunk

Woman Sentenced for Killing Man While Driving Drunk - Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 4:29PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009 @ 04:29pm EDT
STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY - Daryl Reinhardt of Monroe County killed a man while driving drunk and now she's heading to prison.

Reinhardt ran down 36 year old Darrin Brown on Route 611 in Stroud Township last October.

Wednesday afternoon a judge sentenced her to 11.5 to 23 months in prison. "I'm sorry, very very sorry."

She's sorry she had "two or three" glasses of wine at a restaurant then drove home. Her attorney Jim Swetz said, "It could happen to anyone." He added, "You have a tragedy for two families. It is not an intentional crime."

Brown's wife and son said intentional or not, Brown is gone and nothing can replace him. Wendy Brown said, "I have to know that she felt bad about it that it's not just that she felt bad that she got caught."

Reinhardt's family and friends insist that she is truly sorry. Pastor Brett Jenkins said, "The morose that you heard the judge referring to and her lawyer refering to is very genuine."

He was one of more than 40 people who came to support Reinhardt at her sentencing. Theresa hicks was also there. She's been Reinhardt's neighbor for seven years. Hicks cried, "She's a really wonderful woman." She also said, "She supported me through breast cancer and her own breast cancer fight, my motherpassing with cancer and her mother passing with cancer."

Despite being a good citizen, Reinhardt still had to be punished for taking a man's life. She'll spend at lest 11 months in jail and give 100 hours of community service.

As the judge sentenced Reinhardt, she wiped away tears and so did many of her friends who were sitting in the courtroom.

Hicks was one of them. She said,"She has so much to give and that's not the place for her. My heart is with her."

Brown's family had not seen him in ten years. His wife said he left after an argument and she spent years searching for him. His friends say he also searched for her. The family finally learned where he was when a police officer knocked on the door to tell them he was dead.