JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A jury convicted a woman of vehicular homicide in a 2016 crash at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road that left a Sandalwood High School senior dead, the State Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Tara Thrift was also found guilty by the jury of three counts of reckless driving causing property damage.
Recommended Videos
Thrift, 41, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled to be set by a judge on Jan. 22.
About 10 a.m. Dec. 1, 2016, according to police, Thrift was driving a Nissan south on St. Johns Bluff Road when she ran a red light at the intersection at Beach Boulevard, crossed over the center concrete median, slammed into a Honda, and then hit a commercial gasoline tanker truck and a Lexus.
The driver of the Honda, 18-year-old Denny Grahovic, died of his injuries.
Prosecutors said witnesses reported and red-light camera video showed Thrift operating her vehicle without regard for other traffic and going through multiple red lights before accelerating into where
she struck the driver’s side of the Sandalwood High School student's stopped car.