Driver in fatal 2016 wreck gets four-year prison term

Aug. 11--PRESTON -- A woman who was drunk, speeding and passing in a no-passing zone when she slammed into a car driven by a 16-year-old Canton girl, killing the teenager instantly, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

Cindy Lee Mueske, 56, who lived in Ashland, Ill., at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty in May to one count of criminal vehicular homicide, a felony.

In exchange, five identical counts were dismissed, as were one count of second-degree manslaughter, four counts of DWI, two counts of reckless driving, and one count each of possession of open bottle, careless driving, speeding, and failure to keep right.

Fillmore County District Court Judge Matthew Opat handed down a 48-month sentence and ordered Mueske to pay restitution. An amount was not set.

The night of Jan. 28, 2016, Mueske was northbound on U.S. Highway 52 between Harmony and Preston about 8:45 p.m., "driving aggressively," according to an off-duty police officer Mueske was following. The witness said the pickup came up close behind him with its bright headlights on, then tried to pass him three times before finally going around him and a van in front of him in a no-passing zone.

Another witness, who was southbound on U.S. 52, said a pickup "came straight across the center line; it was not drifting," forcing him to pull over to avoid a collision.

Mueske then plowed head-on into a car driven by Kaitlyn Helene Hansen, the criminal complaint says, sending both vehicles into the west ditch. Mueske was ejected from her truck and taken by medical helicopter to a Rochester hospital.

Hansen, a junior at Fillmore Central High School, was pronounced dead at the scene.

As an officer looked through Mueske's pickup for insurance information, he found several open liquor bottles; an officer at the hospital reported he could smell alcohol on Mueske.

Because of the nature of the crash, a search warrant was granted for a sample of Mueske's blood. While her medical records indicated a blood alcohol level of 0.152, with a positive test for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, the test results from the BCA -- which analyzed blood taken four hours after the crash -- revealed a blood alcohol range of 0.08 to 0.151.

The BCA also reported finding TCH in the blood sample.

An analysis of the pickup's airbag control module indicated its speed at 94 mph a half-second before the crash. According to a crash reconstruction report, Mueske had "clearly crossed over the solid yellow line."

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