A Waukesha woman who is serving time for a December 2022 crash in Milwaukee that killed her cousin will remain behind bars a bit longer.
Shauntonae Walton, 28, on Thursday pleaded guilty to knowingly operating a car without a license – causing great bodily harm and bail jumping.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jonathan Richards sentenced her to serve one year in prison and one year of extended supervision on each count. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, but consecutively with the sentence in a separate crash for which she already is serving time .
That means she'll be in prison for a total of 11 years.
"This was an accident caused by somebody who shouldn't have been driving," Assistant District Attorney Michael R. Staskunas said.
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Here's what happened that day
Prosecutors and police argued Walton was driving a car in July 2023 that traveled north on 91st Street and slammed into a pickup on 91st that was attempting to make a left turn onto Mill Road. The collision caused the pickup to roll onto its side.
A man and two young children were in the car with Walton. The crash left three people in the other vehicle injured, including one woman who suffered spinal injuries.
Walton was out on bail in connection with a deadly single-vehicle crash eight months earlier – also on 91st – that killed her cousin, DeeAnna Edwards, a passenger in the car. In that crash, prosecutors argued Walton was drunk and sped into a tree at 91st and Bradley Road on Dec. 10, 2022.
A judge gave her 10 years in that matter.
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Walton was pushed to drive by 'mother's mindset' to care for injured child
In court Thursday, Walton and her defense attorney, Peter J. Kovac, revealed Walton drove that day because one of her children had been injured on a playground and needed medical attention.
Kovac said Walton called for an ambulance and waited 20 minutes, but none came. So she made the decision to drive the child to Children's Hospital, despite restrictions imposed on her by the court.
"This was a mother's mindset," said Kovac, of Milwaukee. "She was trying to care for her child."
State transportation records show Walton never held a Wisconsin driver's license.
Her driving record also shows she was cited and later convicted of operating a vehicle without a license in 2018 in Waukesha municipal court. Walton's license status was formally considered "suspended," and she was cited and found guilty of operating while suspended in 2021 in Brookfield municipal court.
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Through tears Thursday, Walton told the judge the child had just beaten cancer when injured. Getting the child to the hospital was the first thing on her mind.
"I couldn't just keep watching my baby in pain," she said. "I did what I thought any mother would do."
After the crash, emergency medical personnel didn't fully check on Walton or her passengers, Kovac said. The focus immediately was on the people in the other vehicle, which landed on its side with three people trapped inside.
Walton and her passengers left with Walton's sister, whom she called, and proceeded to the hospital on their own.
Prosecutors on Thursday dismissed a charge of hit-and-run involving great bodily harm, a Class-E felony, as part of the plea deal with Walton. However, the charge was read into the court record for sentencing purposes.
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How many traffic deaths have been reported this year?
At least 60 people have died in crashes on Milwaukee County roads in 2024 through Aug. 25, the most updated figure provided Wednesday from the state Department of Transportation. There were 92 traffic deaths in the county during all of 2023, the year the crash at 91st and Mill occurred, and 110 fatalities in 2022, the year Edwards was killed.
There have been 350 road fatalities reported statewide in 2024, traffic data shows. In 2023, there were 564.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha woman convicted in a fatal 2022 crash gets additional prison time
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