Recent UF graduate Amanda Boyd, 24, has pleaded no contest to a charge of DUI manslaughter for a crash on University Avenue in September.
The crash killed Gainesville resident Betty Hinson, 74.
Boyd, who graduated from UF in December with an economics degree, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21, according to toxicology results described in a Florida Highway Patrol crash report. In Florida, a driver is considered impaired with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher.
She was a senior at UF at the time of the crash.
Though she could have legally faced up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, the state has agreed to seek a penalty of no more than eight years in prison, according to court documents.
Boyd's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 14.
At the sentencing, the victim's family members will be allowed to describe the impact the crash has had on them, and Boyd will be allowed to offer evidence to support their defense.
The minimum sentence Boyd could face is four years.
Under a deal formed between Boyd and the state, she will also serve probation.
The probation length will depend on her prison sentence, totaling 15 years between the two.
While on probation, she will not be permitted to drive a car or possess or consume alcohol. She will also be required to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet and may have to undergo mental health and substance-abuse counseling.
According to the FHP report, Boyd told officers she had one Michelob Ultra draft beer at the Applebee's on Northwest 13th Street on the night of Sept. 21. She was unsure of the size of the beer, she said.
She had also taken Wellbutrin XL, prescribed for depression and anxiety, that morning.
Boyd said she had the beer around 4 p.m. and left Applebee's between 5 and 5:30 p.m. to visit a friend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., the report stated. About 15 minutes later, Boyd's vehicle collided into Hinson's after Boyd reportedly had trouble navigating around the curve at the intersection of East University Avenue and State Road 26, near Southeast 55th Street.
Boyd's car struck the driver's side of Hinson's car at at least 54 mph, according to the report.
Boyd's car then hit two road signs before flipping.
Boyd told officers she was traveling between 45 and 50 mph, but speed calculations determined she was going at least 60 to 68 mph when she applied the brakes. The speed limit is 45 mph.
Hinson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Paul Doering, UF pharmacy professor, said Boyd's 0.21 blood alcohol level likely meant she had the equivalent of eight to 10 alcoholic drinks in her body at the time the sample was taken.
"That alcohol had to have come from somewhere," he said. "And there just simply isn't that much alcohol in a Michelob Ultra draft, no matter what size it is."
He also said Wellbutrin XL would not have affected her blood alcohol level.
One of Boyd's two lawyers, Craig DeThomasis, declined to comment on the case until the sentencing was complete.
