Woman sentenced in deadly DUI crash which killed UGA student

ATHENS, Ga. - A Madison County woman will spend 25 years in prison for a DUI crash that killed a University of Georgia student.

Thursday, a Clarke County Superior Court judge sentenced 32-year-old Whitney Baker Howard to 31-years with 25 to be served in prison, and the balance on probation.

The crash last year killed 25-year-old UGA triathlete Ashley Block while she was on a bike ride on South Milledge Avenue. Police said the car hit her head-on, throwing her near a roadside ditch. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Roger Molly, the owner of Hub Bicycle, the company that organized the group bike ride, was also injured in the crash. She was struck by the mirror of the vehicle, which injured her left arm.

A third cyclist, Mitchell Enfinger, was hit and thrown to the shoulder of the roadway.

Authorities say the cyclists were riding in single file along the fog line on Athena Drive when an SUV traveling in the opposite direction crossed the road and struck the three cyclists.

Police said Howard told officers she was looking at her cellphone before the accident. Police said there was also a toddler-aged child inside the truck.

Howard has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs twice before.

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