NORFOLK, Va. — A Navy Sailor stationed in Norfolk has been sentenced for a deadly crash in 2021 that involved racing another vehicle.
On Friday, a judge sentenced Alexis Whitehead, 25, to 12 years in prison for racing with another vehicle while under the influence and crashing off Hampton Boulevard. It killed her passenger 23-year-old Nitanjae Terry, according to a press release from the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney.
The press release said on Sept. 5, 2021, Whitehead and a group of friends were in the crowded parking lot of a hookah lounge on Hampton Boulevard. The crowd decided to head to a nearby house party.
Whitehead, who was 24 years old at the time, left as part of the caravan and had four other people in her car. As she headed southbound on Hampton Boulevard, Whitehead began racing with another car, passing other vehicles in the caravan. At one point, officials said one of Whitehead's friends yelled for her to slow down, but she didn't respond.
Whitehead ended up losing control and overcorrected at a bend in the road at Hampton Boulevard and Manchester Avenue. She hit a curb, went airborne and crossed into multiple lanes of oncoming traffic. She knocked down a tree and snapped a utility pole into multiple pieces. She finally came to a stop in the area of Hampton Boulevard and Surrey Crescent.
"The Event Data Recorder from Ms. Whitehead’s Infiniti recorded the vehicle’s highest speed at 132 miles per hour seconds before impact with the tree and, at the time of impact, Ms. Whitehead had still been accelerating," according to the press release from the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney.
All of the passengers in the car ended up in the back seat, and Nitanjae Terry was thrown through the rear windshield.
"Other passengers were able to exit on their own or with the help of bystanders. Moments after the crash, the car caught fire and bystanders put out the fire with an extinguisher from a nearby house," the press release stated. "Ms. Whitehead told paramedics she had been drinking earlier in the day, and paramedics could smell alcohol on her breath. Her blood alcohol level was later determined to be .159."
All of the passengers were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where Terry later died.
Whitehead pleaded guilty on Sept. 8, 2021, to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter, causing the death of another by racing, two counts of driving while intoxicated with reckless disregard resulting in serious injury, and driving while intoxicated.
Here's how her sentencing breaks down, per Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi:
-10 years, with six years suspended, for manslaughter
-10 years, with six suspended, for causing the death of another by racing
-five years, with three suspended, on two counts of DUI causing significant and permanent injury
-12 months, with 11 months suspended, for DUI
"Driving drunk and at triple-digit speeds is extremely dangerous, and we are lucky that more people did not die in this crime, including motorists in other cars and residents in the houses around the crash scene," said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. "Think before you drink. Don’t drive drunk. If you kill someone while behind the wheel, we will hold you accountable."
Whitehead’s suspended sentences are conditioned upon indeterminate supervised probation, the release said.
