Butler County woman guilty of killing 2 passengers in DUI crash sentenced to prison

A Butler County woman who drove after drinking has already been punished by killing two of her friends when she crashed into a convenience store. Now, she’s going to jail.

As the Butler Eagle reports, Diane Elizabeth Read, 38, of Valencia, Pa., was sentenced to serve two concurrent sentences of 36 to 72 months for the homicide by vehicle while DUI charges and a concurrent sentence of 72 hours to six months in prison for first-offense DUI in the case.

The sentence was handed down late last week in Butler County Court, following Read’s guilty plea in the May 2020 crash into a CoGo’s convenience store on Route 8 in Middlesex Township.

Killed in the crash were two of Read’s friends, who were passengers in the vehicle.

Deputy sheriffs took Read into custody immediately after Common Pleas Judge Timothy F. McCune handed down the sentence.

Read’s sentence in the plea agreement also includes paying restitution of more than $253,000 and a $1,000 fine. Most of the restitution — $239,000 — is to an insurance company.

Leading up to the May 17, 2020, crash, Read was driving with her neighbors, Kimberly Young, 39, and Patricia Collins, 36, in her vehicle after a social gathering at Read’s home where alcohol was consumed.