The wife of a state trooper who was one of three people killed by a DUI driver on I-95 in 2022, is filing a lawsuit against the driver, the driver’s mother, the owners of the hookah lounge where she drank alcohol and anyone who she may have texted or interacted with on social media while driving during the night of the crash.
Jayana Webb, 23, pleaded guilty to striking and killing Pennsylvania State Troopers Martin F. Mack III, 33, and Branden T. Sisca, 29, as well as 28-year-old Reyes Rivera Oliveras on Interstate 95 near the Broad Street exit in Philadelphia on March 21, 2022.
Webb was later sentenced in November 2023 to at least 27 years in prison. Though Webb pleaded guilty to three counts of 3rd degree murder, three counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence, as part of the plea deal, her prison time was delayed due to her being pregnant.
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Her sentencing is scheduled to take place this month.
Deadly DUI crash on I-95
The deadly DUI crash
The crash occurred around 12:40 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-95 near Lincoln Financial Field on March 21, 2022. Sources told NBC10 the troopers had just pulled over Webb when they received a call about a man who was walking on the highway. They then left Webb as they responded to the man.
The two troopers spotted Oliveras walking on the highway. As they tried to get him into their vehicle, a driver, who officials identified as Webb, drove up to the scene and tried to use the shoulder of the highway to get around them.
Webb hit all three men, police said. The impact was so great that it threw the two troopers and Oliveras into the northbound lanes of I-95, police said.
Police said Webb remained at the scene, her car badly damaged, and was later taken into custody. Her alcohol level at the time was twice the legal limit of .08 BAC, according to police.
In March of 2022, Webb gave a post-Miranda Rights statement to officers that she had been drinking “strawberry Henny” -- referring to Hennessy Cognac -- prior to the crash, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office said.
The lawsuit
On Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, Brittany Sisca, the widow of Branden Sisca, filed a lawsuit against Webb, Webb’s mother and the owners and managers of Vibe Hookah Lounge, a restaurant and bar that operated on the 100 block of W. Chelten Avenue in Philadelphia.
The lawsuit states Webb had visited the lounge the night of the deadly crash. The lounge – which did not have a liquor license or permit -- was illegally serving food, hookah, alcohol and marijuana to patrons, including Webb, according to the lawsuit.
“This hookah lounge was operating without a license to serve food, without a license to serve alcohol,” Jordan Howell, an attorney for Sisca, told NBC10. “On the night of this incident, they served defendant Webb about four Hennessy drinks. She had a shot. She had mixed drinks.”
The lawsuit also states that employees at the bar continued to serve Webb alcohol that night despite her being visibly intoxicated.
“The Vibe Lounge Defendants, by and through their agents, servants, workers and employees, willfully and unlawfully served and continued to serve alcoholic beverages to Defendant Webb while Defendant Webb was in a visibly intoxicated condition, in direct violation of Pennsylvania Dram Shop Act, 44 P.S. §§ 4-493 et. seq., when they knew, or had reason to know, that Defendant Webb constituted a risk of harm to themselves and to others by virtue of being intoxicated,” the lawsuit states.
“The negligent sale of alcoholic beverages by the Vibe Lounge Defendants to Defendant Webb was a direct and proximate cause of Branden Sisca’s catastrophic injuries and death.”
The lounge closed permanently a few days after the deadly crash.
The lawsuit also names Webb’s mother, who attorneys say owned the vehicle her daughter was driving the night of the crash. The lawsuit states that Webb’s mother should have known about her daughter’s reckless behavior and that Webb repeatedly posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about her drunk driving in the months prior to the deadly crash.
“If you ask me, I’m the best drunk driver ever 😂 😂 😂 ,” Webb tweeted back on Jan. 15, 2022, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states Webb tweeted about either being intoxicated or driving drunk at least ten times after that and even tweeted about being pulled over by Trooper Mack and Trooper Sisca moments before the deadly crash.
“Defendant Webb first tweeted, ‘Why the cop pull me & he say im doing 110 ina 50 😂 😂 😂 😂,’” the lawsuit states. "At the moment of impact, Defendant Webb was driving 78 miles per hour (in a 55 mph zone) while posting a tweet that stated: ‘Nbs iont wanna get pulled unless tesh1 wit me 😂 😄.’”
In addition to the hookah lounge and Webb's mother, the lawsuit includes anyone who may have been texting Webb or interacting with her on social media while knowing she was driving drunk on the night of the deadly crash, though those individuals have not been identified.
