A District man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a wrong-way crash that killed a mother and injured her four young children. Thirty-five-year-old Ajene Jones admitted to getting high on PCP the day of the fatal crash, but doesn’t remember driving his van head-on into a car in Southeast Washington.
The collision killed 37-year-old Mary Wimbush, of Southeast Washington. Her children, ages 2, 4, 7 and 10, were hospitalized with broken bones, lacerations and cuts.
Recommended Stories
Jones pleaded guilty in an Alford plea in January, meaning that he does not admit his guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.
On Friday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Motley sentenced Jones to the maximum recommended consecutive sentences of 132 months for voluntary manslaughter and 54 months each for two counts of aggravated assault.
According to prosecutors, on April 19, 2010, Wimbush was driving south on Alabama Avenue Southeast with her four children and had just passed the intersection of 36th Place.
Jones was traveling from the opposite direction, speeding 52 mph in a 25 mph zone, on the wrong side of the double yellow lines. He did not brake before his van crashed into Wimbush’s Toyota Camry.
The Toyota spun around 180 degrees and struck a utility pole.
Bystanders pulled Jones out of the van with minor injuries.
Wimbush was crushed under the dashboard, and it took the D.C. fire department 45 minutes to extricate her. She was airlifted by helicopter and died on the way to the hospital. Her 2-year-old child was ejected from the car. Bystanders pulled the other three children from the wreckage. All four children were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Toxicology tests for Jones came back positive for PCP. He did not have a valid license at the time of the crash and had been convicted for DUI in the District of Columbia and sentenced to probation in December 2009.
