SPENCER — A mom who died along with five others, including some of her children, in a wreck on South Rowan Avenue last month had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.
Angela Monique Dunlap had a .13 and .14 blood alcohol level in the two tests taken, according to her postmortem toxicology report. State law says a person is legally drunk behind the wheel at .08 BAC.
Dunlap, 28, was driving when her GMC Envoy packed with eight passengers, four of whom were her children, careened off the road and struck a tree. At least one passenger, 10-year-old Charles Patrick, was thrown from the vehicle.
Patrick survived and even managed to pull one of the other two survivors to safety.
Dunlap along with Vincent Eugene McNeal, 45; Sean Javen Jacobs, 25; Da’Ja Cathcart, 10; Taliah Williams, 8; and Karizma Nichole Sexton, 4, were killed. Dunlap was the mother of Da’Ja and Taliah, and twins Davion and Javion Williams who survived.
Spencer Police said the vehicle was traveling 67 mph in the 30 mph zone just prior to the crash. It was traveling 57 mph at impact, authorities said.
Spencer Police Chief Michael James said Thursday that police found beer and vodka in the crashed SUV.
He called the wreck a “sad loss of life.”
“I was afraid that’s what it would reveal,” James said of the toxicology report. “I hope that the lives that were lost are not in vain.”
James said the crash was a blow to the community and that he hopes the fatal crash can serve as a reminder to be safe when behind the wheel.
“In the future, we hope that people will think before they get behind the wheel, and not consume alcohol and use appropriate child restraints,” he said. “I wish that on this occasion we could have been there and made a stop and saved some lives.”