An Apopka woman, who is accused of driving drunk when she crashed her car killing one of her four children on Saturday night, was arrested on Friday.
32-year-old Melissa Shornvette Johnson, of Bison Court in Apopka, has been charged with several counts, including DUI manslaughter, three counts of cruelty toward a child without great harm and three counts of child neglect.
Last Saturday night, Johnson told troopers she was heading south on Overland Road, north of Beggs Road when she crashed her vehicle while trying to overtake a passenger van in a curve. The vehicle traveled across the roadway, collided with a mail box, struck a culvert and a tree, before finally overturning on its roof.
Daquasha, one of Johnson’s four children in the car, died as a result of the crash. Johnson and the other children were also injured.
According to Johnson’s Arrest Affidavit, while in the emergency room at Florida Hospital South, she spontaneously told troopers, “I killed my baby. I killed my baby. I was drinking and I killed my baby.”
When asked by troopers whether she had had anything to drink or eat, Johnson replied, “I had a cup-and-a-half of “Crown Royal and Coke.”
Johnson clarified that she meant, “Crown Royal and Cocaine,” troopers said. Johnson also said she had not eaten for three days, prior to the crash.
A blood sample taken from Johnson showed a blood alcohol level of 0.244, three times the legal limit of 0.08.
According to the Arrest Affidavit, Johnson told troopers, “You can lock me up, I don’t care, I was drinking.”
Johnson was booked into the Orange County Jail without bond. She is expected to make an initial court appearance on Saturday morning.
