Driver in fatal crash gets house arrest

Bill Gang

Tuesday, June 16, 1998 | 11:01 a.m.

Sixteen-year-old Amber Carey, whose Feb. 28 accident killed two of her Eldorado High School classmates, won't be sent to a juvenile institution for the drinking and driving incident, but neither will she be back on the roads.

Juvenile Judge Gerald Hardcastle ordered Carey to be on probation until she is 21, but she must spend the first year on house arrest. He revoked her driver's license until she is 18 and then she can only drive to work or school.

In addition, the girl who pleaded guilty to reckless driving must perform 500 hours of community service and attend counseling.

As she choked back tears in court Monday, Carey apologized to the parents of her friends.

Her attorney, Bill Terry, told Hardcastle that while the teenager has been depressed, she still is an A-B student who recently earned the Girl Scout's Silver Award.

Carey had faced the possibility of an indeterminate stay in a youth institution, but Hardcastle decided that would not be productive.

Carey originally had faced two counts of reckless driving and two charges of involuntary manslaughter. The manslaughter charges were dismissed with her guilty plea to the reckless driving counts.

Carey was driving north on U.S. 95 near Lake Mead Boulevard at speeds of up to 115 mph when a tire, not rated for high speeds, blew out, authorities have alleged.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said her blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.07 percent -- although that is less than the 0.10 required to prove drunken driving in either adult or juvenile court.

"She'll never forget the night this incident occurred," Terry said after the hearing when she pleaded guilty. "She'll live with it the rest of her life."

Killed when Carey's car hit a wall were Olga Lopez and Kena Corbet, both 16.

Carey was hospitalized with injuries, but a 14-year-old passenger, Samantha Jenkins, escaped serious injury.