Thread: MO: Drunk driving is suspected in crash that killed woman

What a wonderful tribute to your dear friend BaByGal.

Thank you for keeping us informed and you try to have a happy birthday.

hey, babygal...i think i know who you are (that sounds creepy, it's not meant to be. nicole just talked about you a lot). brian told me about the pointfest thing too. it sucks that i'm not going - nicole kept trying to get me to go, too, but i couldn't & now i wish i'd cancelled my plans, although i'm not sure i'd be able to go without nicole there... but i'm sure it will be awesome & everyone will take pictures. brian also said there's going to be something at school in the fall - an auction? which i think is good. i just don't want nicole to be forgotten. i think about her & miss her every day & i'm sure lots of her friends do, too. we had planned to do so much & now i'm going to be doing all of that by myself. a lot of times i think "oh, i need to call nicole" or "wait til i tell nicole about this!" & then i remember...

as for the killer...i agree being surrounded by nicole-stuff would be a better punishment than just sitting in a cell. but i'm mean & i have harsher ideas about what should be done to him. i hope he is sorry & that he thinks about what he did every minute of the day...he might do that, but i'm betting he's sorrier for himself than for what he did to nicole & everyone who knew her...at least he's in jail (as far as i know, he is still in jail & i'm sure brian would have told me if things had changed.)

anyway, that was kind of long, i'm just rambling now...later everybody

It would be great if you guys could get together.

Illegal says he was drunk in deadly crash
By William C. Lhotka
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/27/2007

An illegal immigrant has admitted he was drunk when the car he was driving plowed into the back of a car in Maryland Heights in April and killed a young woman in the back seat.

Pedro Santos, 27, pleaded guilty in St. Louis County Circuit Court Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Nicole Allen, 21, of St. Louis County. Allen was a junior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a 2004 graduate of Parkway North High School.

Allen was a passenger in a 1991 Acura driven by Larry Lane, 24. Lane was injured. So, too, was another passenger, Charles Miller, 28. Both were hospitalized. Santos pleaded guilty of second-degree assault in connection with their injuries. He also pleaded guilty of leaving the scene of an accident.
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The accident took place at 11:57 p.m. on April 20 at the intersection of Marine Avenue and Bennington Place. The Lincoln Town Car Santos was driving crashed into the back end of the Acura, which was stopped for a red light. Police caught Santos in nearby woods about three hours later.

Santos was driving on a Mexican license. He said he was in the country illegally and working as a restaurant cook, police reported. After his capture, Patrolman Jeffrey King said, Santos admitted he was drunk. He also admitted he was drunk in court on Monday. Santos was living with his girlfriend in Maryland Heights and driving her car.

www.stltoday.com

BaByGaL187 & M2007


Welcome to both of you. I am so sorry - that's trite - but not much else to say.

Thank both of you for coming here.

It is absolutely true - if not for our government refusing to enforce our laws - that would not have happened. It is just that simple.

I hope you both will get active in this and encourage others to do the same.

If you talk with the family, please tell them that a lot of people across the country are mourning with them in this.

Thank you again,

Illegal immigrant sentenced in fatal crash
By William C. Lhotka
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/10/2008

Pedro Santos
(Handout)

A judge sentenced an illegal immigrant at noon today to 10 years in prison for causing an accident in Maryland Heights last year that killed 21-year-old college student Nicole Allen and seriously injured two of her friends.

Pedro Santos, 27, pleaded guilty Nov. 26 before St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael T. Jamison to charges of involuntary manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and two counts of assault.

Jamison heard tearful victim impact statements in an emotion-laden, hour-long hearing this morning, and a sobbing apology from the defendant through an interpreter. The judge said he read scores of letters that he received and deliberated long and hard before rendering his decision.

Santos admitted he was drunk at 11:57 p.m. on April 20 when the Lincoln Town Car he was driving plowed into the back of a 1991 Accura, stopped at a redlight at the intersection of Marine Avenue and Bennington Place in Maryland Heights.

The impact killed Allen, a junior at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and a 2004 graduate of Parkway North High School. Allen was a passenger in the back seat. Seriously injured were another passenger, Charles A. ``Chuck'' Miller III, 28, and the driver, Larry Lane, 24.

Santos fled. Police caught him three hours later in nearby woods. Santos has admitted he was an illegal immigrant who was driving his girlfriend's car and was drunk.

Prosecutor Alan M. Key Jr. said Santos had a blood alcohol level of .12 about six hours after the accident. That level meant Santos' blood alcohol was about .24 when the crash took place, Key told the Post-Dispatch today, or three times Missouri's legal limit of .08.

Telling Jamison about the effects of the crash on their lives in court this morning were Miller, who required spinal fusion, spends nights in pain and lost his job because of his injuries, and the mother, stepfather and father of Allen.

Allen lived with his mother, Denise Buchholz, and his spefather, Brian Buchholz, in the 11800 blcok of Gold Leaf Drive, an unincorporated pocket of St. Louis County near Maryland Heights. They said their lives will never be the same.

Denise Buchholz said she had gone that day from planning a girl's night out with Nicole to planning her funeral the next day.

``She looked forward to graduating from college, getting married and having a baby of her own,'' her mother told Jamison. ``She never had a chance to live her dreams.''

Brian Buchholz reminsced about Nicole's help in picking out his wife's wedding ring, and activities they did together. Both talked about sleepless nights and problems with their white-collar jobs because they have been unable to concentrate since Nicole died.

Through an interpreter, Santos said he was sorry for what had happened, that he prayed for the victim, that he had been the sole provider for his family in Mexico, and that he will be unable to see his family for many years.

Once Santos completes his prison sentence in Missouri, he will be deported, authorities said.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

4/20/2007 is a day that will forever be in my mind.

Nicole Allen 1986-2007; You will forever be missed!

I can't believe another year passes. But my thoughts of you, the past we had, and the future you help me create. Will live forever...