The 21-year-old woman charged in a crash that killed two Pennsylvania state troopers and a pedestrian they were trying to help on I-95 had a Blood Alcohol Level that was twice the legal limit, sources said. NBC10’s Deanna Durante tells us more about the suspect.
What to Know
- Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, has been ordered held in jail pending an April 5 hearing on charges that also include second-degree manslaughter of a law enforcement officer and vehicular homicide while driving under the influence.
- Webb graduated from Norristown Area High School in 2018, and ran track for a time while in school.
- Law enforcement sources said Thursday that she had a blood alcohol content (BAC) level twice the legal limit.
The woman charged with killing two Pennsylvania state troopers and a man walking along Interstate 95 early Monday had a blood alcohol content level twice the legal limit, sources told NBC10 on Thursday.
Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, of Eagleville, Montgomery County, is still jailed after a judge initially denied her bail this week.
Webb was driving with another woman, who has not yet been identified, when she allegedly crashed into troopers Martin Mack III and Branden Sisca and another man, Reyes Rivera Oliveras, who the troopers were trying to help off Interstate 95 near the stadiums in South Philadelphia. All three men were struck and killed by the impact of the crash.
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The radio dispatch audio shows in real-time how first responders learned of the extent of the suspected drunken driving crash early Monday morning.
"Yeah, it looks like a trooper might be down, they're doing CPR on him right now," a person said on one of the recordings.
"Looking at at least three down, uh, one trooper, two troopers down," the person on the audio said.
Webb remains in jail ahead of an April 5 hearing on charges that also include second-degree manslaughter of a law enforcement officer and vehicular homicide while driving under the influence.
She graduated from Norristown Area High School in 2018 and ran track for a time while in high school. People who know Webb told NBC10 that they are surprised that she is now in so much trouble.
Law enforcement authorities have revealed very little about where Webb was before the troopers initially pulled her over. Sources told NBC10 that Mack and Sisca had just pulled over Webb when they received a call about a man who was walking on the highway. They then left Webb as they responded to the man, later identified as Oliveras.
As the troopers tried to get him into their vehicle, Webb allegedly drove up to the scene and tried to use the shoulder of the highway to get around them.
During her first court hearing this week, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office said Webb gave a post-Miranda Rights statement to officers that she had been drinking “strawberry Henny” -- referring to Hennessy Cognac -- prior to the crash.
Webb’s lawyer Michael Walker argued that his client was very young, a first-time offender and posed no danger to the public. Walker said there was no need for Webb to remain jailed while awaiting trial, which he said could take one to three years.
“No. 1 she’s not a flight risk," Walker told NBC10. "No. 2, she’s not a danger to society and there are things that you can put in place to protect society if you believe she’s a danger to society like put her on an electronic cuff. Make her sit in house arrest.”
However, the judge sided with the District Attorney’s Office, based on the seriousness of the charges. “I do see that there is a public safety issue here,” the judge said.
Webb sat hunched over in her chair during Tuesday's hearing. She cried quietly when the judge denied bail, but was not showing much emotion before that.
Walker said "there should never be a rush to judgment." He called the charges against Webb "allegations" that need to be presented in court under oath.
Walker said after the hearing that his client was “devastated" and “extremely saddened."
Police said Oliveras, a 28-year-old from Allentown, was walking in the southbound lanes of I-95 near the sports stadiums in South Philly early Monday. Troopers Mack and Sisca were trying to get him off the road when a vehicle “traveling at a high rate of speed” struck all three, police said. All were pronounced dead at the scene.
Funeral Details for Trooper Mack
A public viewing will be held at the Wade Funeral Home in Bristol from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30.
A funeral Mass will be held starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 31 at St. Michael the Archangel Church at 66 Levittown Parkway in Tullytown, Pennsylvania. St. Michael's can hold 2,000 people. State and local police are working out parking arrangements for the service.
Burial will follow on March 31 at Our Lady of Grace Cemetery off Route 1 in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.
