A US woman who allegedly asked her twin to take responsibility for a deadly crash with an Amish buggy has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Police said Samantha Peterson was high on methamphetamine after work when she rear-ended a horse-drawn buggy near Spring Valley, Minnesota, in September 2023.
Two sisters in the buggy, Wilma Miller, seven, and Irma Miller, 11, died, and two other siblings were seriously injured, authorities said.
After the crash, police said Samantha summoned her twin, Sarah, to the scene.
Her twin initially told officers she had been driving, but was recorded by police saying: “There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell.”
Samantha has now pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide under the influence and criminal vehicular operation under the influence.
“We started to determine that, in fact, Samantha was the sister that was coming from Rochester, driving southbound at the time of the crash, not Sarah,” said Fillmore County Sheriff John DeGeorge.
Samantha Petersen’s lawyer has said her sentence is fair. Pic: Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office
Using search warrants, location data from Samantha’s mobile phone, and a phone call from her employer, police concluded she was driving.
They found various online searches on Samantha’s phone, including “what happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people”, and “how to lock an iphone cops have”.
Police also alleged she called her place of work’s human resource department after the incident, and said: “I f***** up… I just killed two Amish people.
“They were kids… I just hit a f****** buggy… I’m not sober.”
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Minnesota District Court Judge Jeremy Clinefelter sentenced her on Thursday to two sentences of two and four years in prison, to be served concurrently.
He also ordered her to pay nearly $40,000 (£29,790) in restitution, according to his sentencing memo for the case.
“I wish with everything in me that I could go back and change what happened,” Samantha said before the sentencing, according to Minneapolis news station KARE, which is an affiliate of Sky News’ partner newsroom NBC.
“But, I know I cannot.
“My addiction took a lot from me, but it took the world from you,” she said, directing her comments to the bereaved family.
After the sentencing, her criminal defence lawyer, Carson J Heefner, said: “I guess in the grand of scheme of things, it was a fair sentence.”
Sarah Peterson has already served her sentence for contributing to criminal vehicular operation, according to KARE.
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