Nelson woman guilty of 3rd DUI, maiming

The calls about the 1993 Ford Explorer started coming in just before 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5. Callers told the 911 operators that the sport utility vehicle was driving recklessly on Thomas Jefferson Parkway.
Soon after, emergency operators received a call about an accident at the intersection of Thomas Jefferson Parkway and James Monroe Parkway. The Explorer had hit a 2003 Mitsubishi Galant head-on, authorities said.

No one in those two cars escaped unscathed.
The occupants of the Galant, 35-year-old Annie Reed and her 9-year-old son, were taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center with internal injuries. Helen Jewel Ward, the driver of the Explorer, now faces a maximum of 11 years in prison in connection with the incident.
Ward, who authorities said had a .2 blood-alcohol content that evening, pleaded guilty Tuesday to maiming of another resulting from driving while intoxicated, driving under the influence as a third offense and driving while suspended due to a prior conviction.
Ward entered her plea Tuesday as part of a plea agreement that was accepted by Judge Cheryl Higgins in Albemarle County Circuit Court.

The maiming charge was brought because of Reed’s injuries. Andrew Sneathern, assistant commonwealth’s attorney, told the judge Tuesday that the force of the accident broke the mother’s ankle, tibia, fibula, femur and four ribs. Reed also suffered a collapsed lung and damage to her spleen and aortic arteries.
“She had a splint placed in her heart,” Sneathern said in court. “She will probably have it monitored for the rest of her life.”
Ward, 47, appeared in court Tuesday with a cast on her left arm. She limped up to the microphone in front of the judge to answer questions about her plea and her past.
According to Nelson County’s court records, Ward was convicted of a second driving under the influence charge in October 2007 after an appeal to the circuit court. Ward was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 50 of which were suspended, and had her license suspended for three years.
In May, court records show, Ward was convicted of driving with a revoked license in Nelson. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a three-year license suspension.

Sneathern said in court that Ward had a prior driving under the influence conviction from 2003. More information about that charge was not immediately available.
Sneathern said in court Tuesday that he would not prosecute another maiming charge or a possession of cocaine charge against Ward.
Ward remains at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. She is scheduled to return May 20 to court for sentencing.