Georgia woman sentenced to 15 years in 2019 Jasper County DUI crash that killed passenger
A 26-year-old Georgia woman pleaded guilty Thursday to drunken driving stemming from a 2019 crash that killed one of the passengers after he was ejected from the vehicle and injured another, according to a 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office news release.
Tessa Marie Openlander, of Richmond Hill, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for driving under the influence resulting in death.
The night of the crash last March, Openlander’s blood-alcohol level was .15% and a S.C. Highway Patrol report said she “was so grossly impaired, she was unable to stand without assistance,” the release said.
Openlander had previously been convicted in Georgia for DUI in 2014 and reckless driving in 2015.
Openlander was driving with two passengers on Bellinger Hill Road in Jasper County around 4 a.m. March 30 when she drove off the right side of the road, overcorrected, drove off the left side of the road, and struck an embankment.
The back-seat passenger, 22-year-old Christopher Michael Clark of Savannah, Georgia, was ejected. Clark died at the scene.
Openlander and the front-seat passenger were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.
After being released from the hospital less than a week later, Openlander was booked into the Chatham County Detention Center then later sent to the Jasper County Detention Center, a Highway Patrol spokesperson said at the time.
