Still in his hospital scrubs, Johns Hopkins doctor Todd Sheridan got into his Honda Civic with a blood alcohol level of two ? possibly three ? times the legal driving limit.
Sheridan, 32, began driving the wrong way on Mount Royal Avenue and, despite the alarmed honks of drivers warning him of danger, he entered the southbound Interstate 83 ? headed north.
There, he began hitting barrier walls several times, until he collided at 50 miles per hour head-on with a Honda Accord driven by college student Latrice Nicole Smith, 22, who later died of complications from her injuries.
“She cried out but had no time to react,” prosecutor Lisa Phelps said in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Tuesday after Sheridan pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with the 3 a.m. crash on July 8, 2006.
Under the terms of a plea agreement, Sheridan will be ordered to serve three years in prison, though Judge Robert Kershaw could alter that deal at the sentencing on April 21.
Sheridan had driven for about 4 1/2 miles in the wrong direction on the expressway, Phelps said.
Four hours after the collision, Sheridan?s blood alcohol level was 0.18 ? more than twice the legal driving limit of 0.08.
Smith?s passenger, David Johnson, also was seriously injured in the collision and hospitalized.
Smith?s and Johnson?s families said they didn?t believe Sheridan was being punished severely enough.
“I don?t think any amount of time will make up for what he did,” said Glenn Smith, Latrice?s father. “It?s been almost two years, and we?re still recovering emotionally.”
A Woodlawn High School graduate, Latrice Smith was studying forensic science at Baltimore County Community College in Catonsville.
Glenda Johnson Goodwin, David?s mother, said that despite Sheridan?s medical skills, he needs to be taken off the streets.
“I think he should serve much more time,” she said. “Three years. Where?s the justice?”
