Farmington » It's "difficult to lose your baby sister, even when you're an old lady like me," Cora Bingham said Monday in 2nd District Court.
The "baby sister," 80-year-old Verna Arave, was killed last year along with her husband, 82-year-old Dean S. Arave, by a woman driving under the influence of the prescription sleep medication Ambien.
But Bingham said she was "not out for revenge, not out to get even." She just wants Alecia L. Kap to purge her "demons" and free the "beautiful person" she is "deep down inside."
Kap, 28, of South Weber, will complete 36 months of probation, which includes a year in the Davis County jail.
Judge Michael Allphin, who also ordered Kap to pay a $1,000 fine, said that as a registered nurse she should have known better than to drive under the influence of Ambien.
Defense attorney Greg Skordas said Kap suffers "tremendous pain" because of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis -- a condition that has created drug-dependency issues. Skordas said Kap had already been addressing those problems by completing a monthlong inpatient substance-abuse program, followed by outpatient therapy.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Tyler Larsen had asked the judge to send Kap to prison for up to five years, called her "an addict" who would have access to better programs at prison than in jail.
Charged with two counts of second-degree felony automobile homicide, Kap pleaded guilty to one lesser count of third-degree felony automobile homicide. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors also dismissed a third-degree felony count of fraudulently obtaining a Lortab prescription. Kap resolved a similar prescription-fraud case in Morgan County with a plea in abeyance.
The fatal crash occurred when Kap "blacked out" the morning of May 20, 2008, while driving east on Highway 193 in Layton. Kap ran a red light and hit Dean Arave's car, which was turning left onto Hill Field Road, according to police. Arave died at the hospital a short time later. His wife, Verna Arave, died the next day.
Bingham called the couple "cultured, educated, loving and understanding" and said they would prefer rehabilitation to punishment for Kap.
