A suburban Lake Worth Beach woman was sentenced to three years in prison this week for a 2022 vehicle crash that killed a man near Greenacres.
Elizabeth Owens, 27, learned her fate on Monday, July 1, during a hearing before Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. She pleaded guilty in March to vehicular homicide in a Dec. 21, 2022 two-car collision that killed 68-year-old Willie Swoope. Her plea was entered without an offer from the state.
During Monday's hearing, Gillen ordered that Owens' prison sentence be followed by six years of probation. He also suspended her driver's license for six years. Owens is to begin serving her prison term at the end of the month, court records show. School district records showed that she was employed as an ESE Pre-K teacher at Wellington Elementary School at the time of the crash. Her employment ended in May, the school district said.
At the time of her arrest in February 2023, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators said Owens was driving at nearly 90 mph in a 30-mph zone moments before her Volkswagen Tiguan SUV collided with Swoope's Mercedes-Benz sedan. The fatal crash occurred at St. Andrew's and Nassau roads, near the Palm Beach National Golf & Country Club. Swoope, a Boynton Beach resident, died at the scene. Owens was treated for unspecified injuries and released.
Judge orders community service, speaking engagements as conditions of probation
Owens told investigators she was driving east on St. Andrew's that morning at about the speed limit when the other vehicle ran a stop sign and pulled in front of her. However, a mathematical reconstruction of the crash showed that the Volkswagen's minimum speed at the time of the collision was 79 mph and the Mercedes' speed was 8 mph, a sheriff's arrest report said.
Investigators did not find mechanical issues with either vehicle that would have contributed to the crash, although a sheriff's report said the roadway was wet and the street and intersection were unlit when the cars collided at about 6:50 a.m. that day. St. Andrew's also was under construction, and an excavator along the roadside created "a visual obstruction."
As a condition of Owens' probation, Gillen ordered, among other terms, that she complete 200 hours of community service, that she complete a 12-hour defensive driving course and that she conduct five speaking engagements each year on reckless driving while on probation. Owens will also be allowed to use her work experience to educate fellow inmates during her time in prison, court records show.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him atjwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.
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