Angenette Marie Welk, 44, has been charged with driving under the influence after a fatal car crash in Marion County on Thursday
A drunk driver who killed a mother and injured her teenage daughter in a Florida car crash has sparked fury for smiling in her mugshot.
Angenette Marie Welk, 44, rear ended a Hyundai Elantra on Highway US 27 on Thursday, causing the vehicle to crash into a trailer truck in front of it.
Eighteen-year-old Shiyanna Kroll was behind the wheel of her car and suffered minor injuries in the crash around at 11:54am in Marion County.
But her mother Sandra Clarkson, 60, suffered critical injuries and died days later.
The mother was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center where family members said she was left paralyzed and brain-dead after the collision and died despite multiple operations, according to ClickOrlando.
Welk, who was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Avalon, was arrested at the scene and charged with driving under the influence, DUI with property damage and DUI with great bodily harm, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Shiyanna Kroll, 18, (center) was behind the wheel and suffered minor injuries. Her mother Sandra Clarkson, 60, (right) died days after the crash from her injuries
Welk, left, has sparked fury for smiling in her mugshot after the DUI crash. Kroll, right, calls her mugshot disgusting and disrespectful
Welk, above, performed poorly on her sobriety field test and police say she had a BAC level of .172, more than twice the legal limit
Welk crashed into the rear of Kroll’s car, pictured above, propelling it forward to hit a tractor trailer in front of it, severely injuring Clarkson
The truck driver was unharmed in the accident.
Welk also performed poorly on a field sobriety test. Police said her breath smelled of alcohol and her blood alcohol content was .172, more than double the legal limit.
She reportedly crashed because she dropped her phone in her car, according to police.
She has bonded out of the Marion County Jail.
A wooden cross has been erected at the crash site in memory of Clarkson, who died days after Mother’s Day.
Welk’s smiling mugshot has infuriated the victim’s family as they call for the drunk driver to receive a maximum sentence.
‘That disgusts me and that means she has no remorse for what she did at all and I hope that judge sees that picture and says the same thing,’ Kroll said to ClickOrlando.
Florida Highway Patrol is also working with the state attorney’s office to upgrade Welk’s charge to DUI manslaughter.
The penalty for DUI manslaughter in Florida is a minimum of 124.5 months in prison.
Clarkson’s daughter Keonna Sciacca stands at the crash site on Highway US 27 saying: ‘Our lives are changed forever. It’s definitely wrecked our family forever’
Kroll pictured at the site of the crash said: ‘She has no remorse for what she did at all and I hope that judge sees that picture and says the same thing’
The family erected a wooden cross memorial at the crash site in memory of Clarkson
‘Our lives are changed forever. It’s definitely wrecked our family forever, not just temporarily, this was a permanent thing that (Welk) did. (I’m) trying to cope with the fact I won’t see her walk again, she won’t be home when I get home from work or in the mornings when I get home from work. I won’t be able to talk to her, I won’t see her laugh, she won’t see me laugh. I can’t hug her I can’t tell her, “Goodnight, I love you,'”‘ Kroll’s sister Keonna Sciacca said.
‘It’s destroyed us,’ she added.
Welk, who is originally from Washington state and has a 19-year-old daughter, has entered a plea of not guilty, according to court records.
‘If you are out drinking, there is no reason not to put your keys down and Uber, Lyft. Thats all it takes to destroy a family is one bad decision,’ Sciacca said.
Clarkson’s family has created a GoFundMe page in light of her death.
‘On May 14th Sandy was taken off the ventilator surrounded by her two brothers. At 4:53pm Sandy took her last breath and passed away surrounded by people who loved her. As she would have wanted she is going to be flown to KY to be buried by her mom in a family cemetery,’ the family wrote on the page.
She is survived by her two daughters and a son.