Teen Driver Found Guilty In 'Huffing' Crash That Killed Girl, 5
(CBS) -- A teenager accused of huffing computer cleaner before running over a 5-year-old girl two years ago was found guilty Thursday of aggravated DUI.
Carly Rousso, 19, was charged in the death of 5-year-old Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento. Prosecutors say she huffed an aerosol can of keyboard cleaner on Labor Day 2012, before plowing her parents' Lexus into the Sacramento family on a sidewalk in Highland Park. Jaclyn's mother, Modesta Sacramento-Jimenez, and two brothers also were injured.
Rousso pleaded guilty to a count of reckless homicide before her bench trial began on Tuesday, but prosecutors wouldn't budge on a more serious charge of aggravated DUI, which carries a sentence of up to 14 years.
The defense argued the aggravated DUI charge wasn't valid because the aerosol cleaning agent Rousso allegedly inhaled before the crash was not specifically mentioned as an intoxicant in the state's DUI law.
But Lake County Judge James Booras, who decided the verdict, said it was Rousso's intent to get intoxicated.
Rousso remains free on bond, pending her sentencing. She declined comment on the way out of the courthouse.