WA woman sentenced to 6 years for fatal DUI hit-and-run from 2020

LYNNWOOD, Wash. - A 24-year-old woman has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for a fatal hit-and-run that occurred in 2020, while she was under the influence.

The Snohomish County Superior Court sentenced Tachelle Thomas to 6.5 years in prison for vehicular homicide while under the influence, and hit-and-run fatality. According to court records, Thomas was driving on Highway 99 under the influence of marijuana back on Dec. 2, 2020, when she struck 72-year-old Fozieh Shirdelhefzabad while she was using the crosswalk.

Thomas sped away, and Shirdelhefzabad died just weeks later in the hospital from a skull fracture and traumatic brain injury.

According to court records, Thomas' sister had let her use her car to drive to Wal-Mart, and when Thomas came back panicking that she had hit someone, her sister made her drive back to the crime scene and turn herself in.

Thomas is a registered sex offender and has prior convictions for fourth-degree domestic violence assault in 2018, and first-degree rape of a child in 2015.

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