Poplar Bluff woman facing 6 years for pair who died in her SUV

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff, Mo., woman pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday to six years in prison for causing the deaths of her passengers who drowned after the SUV she was driving ran off the road into the Black River.

Christine L. Aldridge, 25, was handed concurrent six-year terms in the Missouri Department of Corrections by Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett.

Aldridge pleaded guilty in January to two Class C felonies of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in connection with the April 7 deaths of Josh Phelps, 25, of Poplar Bluff and Jason Carrington, 29, of Malden, Mo. In her plea. Aldridge admitted to being drunk the night of the accident.

Pritchett sentenced Aldridge after reviewing a sentencing assessment report and hearing emotional testimony from the victims' parents, as well as Aldridge.

Matt Edmundson, Aldridge's attorney, questioned his client about the sentencing report's findings and her relationship with the victims.

Edmundson said he, his client and her family understand "there is nothing" they can say to reduce the pain the victims' families are feeling.

What happened, he said, was not an intentional act, but a "tragic, tragic accident."

Edmundson asked the court to consider his client's lack of criminal history, her young children and her mother, who "is in dire health circumstances. … We are asking for some leniency."

Pritchett said he practiced law for 30 years before becoming a judge and was involved in all sort of heartbreaking cases, but "I don't think I was ever involved in one this horrendous that affected so many people … what's horrible about it is that it is still affecting everybody today."

Knowing what options and limits he has on sentencing, "if I wanted to give the maximum, that's not going to resolve the loss that everyone in this courtroom has. It is just a horrible, absolutely horrible situation [but] by the same token, I have a job to do, and as Mr. [Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin] Barbour indicated … a law was broken."

In sentencing Aldridge, Pritchett said it appeared "we had three adults, who were involved in this. I'm sure nobody thought when this evening began or at 10:30, this was going to end like this …"

Barbour said in January the maximum sentence was 14 years in prison.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, MO