Florida woman who killed toddler in DUI crash to remain guilty after posthumous hearing
SANFORD, Fla. - A woman who hit and killed a toddler while under the influence will remain guilty even though she died before she could have been sentenced.
A Seminole County judge rejected a motion filed by attorneys for Shona Wallace asking to vacate her guilty verdict, which would essentially strike it from the record.
They argued that Wallace, who died on April 13 – just days before her sentencing in the killing of a toddler in a DUI crash – should not have been adjudicated guilty because she was not present at the hearing, according to a motion filed April 29 in Seminole County court.
Wallace's attorneys said Wallace had "a constitutional right to be present at the rendering of the judgment, which was impossible due to her death six days prior," the court document stated. They also alleged the Court was "obligated" to have Wallace's fingerprints manually printed or electronically captured, because she had been adjudicated guilty of a felony, and that the Court was required to certify that the fingerprints taken were that of Wallace.
You can read the motion in its entirety below:
In March, a jury found Wallace guilty of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the death of 18-month-old Adalyn Zisa, and DUI for injuries her parents, Shannon and Dane Zisa, sustained in the June 2, 2019, incident.
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According to the police report, Shannon and Dane Zisa were on a bike ride with their daughter, Adalyn, who was being towed in a bicycle trailer. They were riding on the sidewalk on the northwest corner of State Route 414 and Eden Park Road.
Police said Wallace's vehicle, a 2000 Mazda 646, left the roadway and struck the family on the sidewalk around 7:30 p.m.
Witnesses told police that Wallace's vehicle was seen driving erratically when it left the roadway and struck the family, according to the report. One witness reported seeing Wallace fall out of the vehicle.
Shannon Zisa said she is ready to move on with their lives.
"If this was your family, how would you want to be treated? I honestly don’t know what the point that they are trying to make with this. I don’t know if they don’t like to lose; I find that hard to believe when they work in the public defender's office," she said. "They need to accept that she was guilty, she was guilty the day she did it, she was guilty until she took her dying breath, they need to move forward; I'm sure the public defender's office has clients that are living that need representation."
Prosecutors said Wallace was under the influence of fentanyl when the crash happened.