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Florida Driver Who Blamed God for Fatal Crash Gets Decades in Prison

A Florida driver who said God had distracted her when she ran over and killed a woman in 2015 has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.

The Miami Herald reports 46-year-old April Dawn Thomason, of Key West, was sentenced Monday. A jury convicted her last month of vehicular manslaughter in the death of 49-year-old Stephanie Collins. Collins and a friend were walking on a sidewalk when Thomason struck Collins with her Mercedes-Benz. The friend jumped out of the way.

Thomason pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, blaming the crash on a Xanax withdrawal and God talking to her while she was driving.

She told police after the crash that she was praying and got distracted. She told the court she's sorry for the pain she's caused.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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