Mother Charged for Crash that Killed Her Child

Police say the mother had drugs in her system, and the little girl was not properly buckled in the car.

Linette Villa of Scranton was taken to the Lackawanna County Prison after being arraigned on charges of DUI and involuntary manslaughter.

Her 8-year-old daughter was killed, and her 6-year-old daughter was badly injured in a crash back in June of 2017.

Villa was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Dunmore. She didn't have anything to say to our cameras but wept as a magistrate went through the charges against her.

Villa is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and DUI for the crash back in June on the North Scranton Expressway. According to court papers, other drivers saw Villa's blue Honda speed past them before losing control and hitting a concrete barrier.

An autopsy found that 8-year-old Andrea Morales was killed instantly. Her 6-year-old sister was flown to a hospital but has recovered. And now, police say their mom had cocaine and marijuana in her system at the time of the crash.

A reconstruction of the crash showed that neither girl was properly buckled; they were only wearing lap belts.

Villa is facing even more charges because of what happened when police went to arrest her Tuesday afternoon. Police say Villa fought them and had cocaine on her. She's locked up on $225,000 bail.