CLAYTON, Mo. — A St. Louis woman was sentenced to two years of probation after a wreck that killed a Bellefontaine Neighbors police sergeant in 2015.
Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Sergeant Peggy Vassallo
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports 36-year-old Latonia Waites pleaded guilty to careless and imprudent driving in the death of 53-year-old Sgt. Peggy Vassallo. Waites was originally charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter.
Waites struck Vassallo, a 15-year police veteran, in August 2015. Investigators say Waites was distracted by her cellphone.
Police say Vassallo had been involved in a collision and was outside her car summoning an ambulance for the other driver when Waites swerved around stopped vehicles and hit the sergeant.
Waites would face a one-year jail sentence if she does not complete her probation.
