Woman gets 60 days in jail after fatal accident in Mount Vernon construction zone

A Wisconsin woman was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail for plowing into a car stopped in a Mount Vernon construction zone, killing a driver and passenger from Martelle, and injuring others last year.

Kimberly Jo Sargent, 45, of Platteville, Wis. pleaded guilty to failure to maintain control and speeding, going 63 in a 55 mph zone on Highway 1, south of Abbe Hills Road. The violations were enhanced because of the fatality, which allowed a prosecutor to bump it up to a simple misdemeanor and ask the court for jail time.

David Hultquist, 34, driving a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu, and his passenger, brother-in-law Skylar Darrow, 24, both of Martelle, were northbound on Highway 1 and stopped by construction work, along with other cars stopped in front of them, according to police. Sargent, driving a 2001 Yukon Denali, came up behind the Malibu, crashing into it.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter said the Denali hit the Malibu so hard that the trunk was forced into the front seat area. Hultquist, a father of two young children, died at the scene and Darrow, 2009 graduate of Mount Vernon High, died a few days later at the hospital.

Upon impact, the Malibu then hit a Mustang in front of it before going off into a ditch, Slaughter said. The Mustang then hit the car in front of it, a Buick Century, and then the Denali also flipped over, hitting the Mustang. Most of the other drivers and passengers had minor injuries and the Denali, Mustang and the Malibu were total losses, she said.

Slaughter said this was the best result the law would allow because the state couldn't prove the element of 'recklessness,” needed for a more serious charge, which is more than lack of carelessness or speeding.

There was evidence that Sargent was sending 'flirtatious” texts to a man at the time of the crash but it couldn't be proven how they were sent, Slaughter said. Sargent claimed she was using voice texting though her Bluetooth device.

Sargent's attorney asked for a deferred judgment but 6th Judicial District Magistrate Lorraine Machacek gave her 30 days in jail on each violation and ran them consecutively for a total of 60 days.

Slaughter said Sargent will have to serve her jail time within 120 days of the sentencing.