Dallas Woman Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison After 2017 Drunk Driving Crash

A 33-year-old woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison in relation to a drunk driving crash in 2017.

According to the Ellis County Police Department, Hannah Dillard, of Dallas, pled guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after injuring multiple people during a drunk driving incident.

Police said Dillard drove southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 35 on Oct. 22, 2017.

Dillard traveled from her home in Dallas through DeSoto and Lancaster before ending in Ellis County in a head-on collision, police said.

According to police, multiple people called 911 regarding Dillard driving the wrong-way down the interstate, and Red Oak police attempted to stop Dillard as she drove, but she did not stop.

Police said Dillard only came to a complete stop when she ran head-on into a car carrying five Southern Methodist University students traveling home toward Dallas from Waco.

Three of the students suffered severe injuries. One victim's injuries included a spinal injury, a shattered ankle, a broken arm, and a broken pelvis, police said. This victim testified that she now had 37 implants in her body as a result of the crash.

According to police, Dillard was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon because she drove a vehicle while intoxicated, causing bodily injury to others and using her car as a deadly weapon.

Police said evidence showed that Dillard had a blood alcohol content of .24, three times the legal limit.

Though Dillard had no previous criminal history, prosecutors asked the jury to assess punishment at 12 years in prison, and the jury returned their verdict within 25 minutes, police said.

Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a second-degree felony and has a punishment range of two to 20 years in prison.