"I'm an idiot. Just got in an accident and I drove away," that's what prosecutors say a Montgomery County woman texted to her aunt after she struck and killed a teenager along a busy area road.
Police say Sarah Ann Derstein was drunk behind the wheel and reading a text message when she struck 15-year-old Dennis Kee and took off.
Kee died from his injuries after the April 26 crash. Prosecutors say Kee was walking with a few friends along Route 309 in Hatfield when he was struck. One of Kee's friends suffered a broken elbow.
Derstein, 32, took off from the scene of the crash and kept texting even after the accident.
About a month later, police arrested Lansdale's Derstein.
Prosecutors said Derstein's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. It wasn't her first time driving drunk either as she was sentenced to accelerated rehabilitative disposition stemming from a 2010 DUI arrest.
In October, Derstein pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle, accidents involving bodily injury and DUI of twice the legal limit.
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On Wednesday, a Montgomery County judge sentenced her to four to eight years in prison with four years of probation to follow her release.
The sentence brings closure to Kee's family. After the deadly wreck, Kee's sister talked with NBC10's Chris Cato about the phone call that changed her life.
"And I was like 'He's OK, right?' And he was like, 'No, he died'. And I was like, 'No, he's OK. That can't be my brother,' " said Breanna Hitchens.
"I just don't understand why you would take a risk with your own life, let alone someone else's life," said Hitchens.
