A mother whose son died after she attempted to drive her car across a flooded bridge has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Alexandra Richardson, 31, of Brownsville, was sentenced Wednesday in Edmonson Circuit Court after pleading guilty to charges of murder, first-degree wanton endangerment and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, according to reports.
Richardson’s 20-month-old son, Carson McCullough, died Dec. 3, 2019, at Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
The boy’s death came the night after emergency responders were called to Oak Hill Road just outside Brownsville in efforts to rescue Carson from Alexander Creek, which flooded after a heavy rainstorm.
According to prior court testimony, Richardson attempted to drive across the flooded bridge, ignoring a sign saying that the road was closed.
After Richardson’s vehicle stalled in the water, she and her older son were able to get to safety, but Carson, who was in a car seat in the rear driver’s side of the vehicle, was lost.
First responders found Carson floating in the water several feet from the vehicle about an hour after being called to the scene.
A preliminary medical examiner’s report showed Carson died from asphyxiation due to drowning.
Wally Ritter, then a sergeant with the Edmonson County Sheriff’s Office, testified in a 2019 court hearing that road closed signs with reflective markings had been set up as barricades on either side of the low-lying bridge.
Richardson gave an account of events to police soon after the incident.
“She saw the water, backed up, accelerated and tried to get through it,” Ritter testified in 2019. “At some point, (Richardson) lost or let go of Carson while trying to swim to safety.”
The commotion brought a neighbor outside who was able to bring Richardson and her older son onto land.
A paramedic at the scene notified law enforcement that Richardson appeared to be impaired, and in a subsequent police interview, Richardson acknowledged having used methamphetamine and marijuana before taking the wheel, Ritter testified.
A grand jury indicted Richardson on 19 criminal counts, many of which were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Richardson is incarcerated as a state inmate serving an eight-year sentence stemming from a conviction in a 2015 drug case.
Court records indicate she was originally placed on probation in that case, but her probation was revoked after her arrest in connection with her son’s death.
