After being sentenced to 10 years in prison for driving her car into McB's Tavern in 2005, killing 26-year-old Tiffany Zihal and injuring several others, Amy Fennell went before a parole board Wednesday to ask for early release.
Fennell pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and reckless driving and is serving a prison sentence. After hearing testimony from Zihal's mother, her aunt and a JSO police officer who was first on the scene, the parole board chose to deny Fennell an early release.
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Fennell is due to be released in December
Surveillance video recorded Fennell's car coming through the front door of McB's Lounge on St. Augustine Road at closing time on Sept. 7, 2005.
Zihal's family members and friends packed the courtroom for Fennell's sentencing hearing, with several testifying for the prosecution.
"The day that we found out that our best friend was gone, we went to her apartment and laid on her bed and cried together," Zihal's friend, Harmony Kennison, testified. "There's a huge void now -- we all miss her so much."
Prosecutors said Fennell was intoxicated when she drove into the bar. Fennell has said it was an accident and a terrible tragedy.
A few weeks after the incident, Fennell told Channel 4 that she was sorry.
"It was an accident. It was truly an accident," Fennell said. "I would rather be gone than have the girl whose life was taken be gone. If I could, I would switch places with her."
Toxicology reports performed by prosecutors found cocaine and several prescription medications in Fennell's blood at the time of the crash.
The judge handed down a harsh sentence to Fennell for getting behind the wheel on the night of the tragic crash.
"The more I heard, the more I wondered why she would do that. What she did was reckless and in disregard of what might happen. And because of that I'm going to follow the state's recommendation and on count one sentence you to serve 10 years in Florida State Prison," Judge Mallory Cooper said.
After the judge's ruling, members of Zihal's family hugged one another and cried inside the courtroom. Zihal's mother and grandmother said the sentence was justified.
"We won't get Tiffy back, but at least she will pay the price for what she did to our baby," said Zihal's grandmother, Armogene Cooper.