FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Hallandale Beach woman was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday as part of a plea agreement for her role in a 2013 boating accident that claimed the life of her boyfriend.
Marcella Hewett, 52, pleaded guilty to manslaughter while boating under the influence of alcohol and tampering with evidence. The latter charge carries a five-year sentence, but it will be served concurrently with the seven-year sentence.
"I do not believe that you are a monster or that you wanted this to happen," Broward County Judge Michael Usan said during Friday's sentencing hearing.
Usan said the sentence, "although less than what it could be, is significant."
"You are talking about being locked in a cage like an animal for a long time," Usan said.
In December 2013, Hewett's then-boyfriend, David Duda, was killed when Hewett drove her 18-foot Bowrider into a bridge piling along the Dania Cut-Off Canal. Duda was violently thrown onto the bow of the boat, but what Hewett did next may never be explained because she did not address the victim's family.
After the crash, authorities said, Hewett docked the boat and then wandered a nearby neighborhood.
"You chose not to give or seek immediate life-saving aid for David when he was severely injured," Duda's sister, Joanne Goldsborough, said to Hewett. "Why?"
For 25 minutes, with Duda injured on the boat, Hewett waited and didn't call 911.
"Strolling around, rinsing at the pool and petting dogs is completely callous," Goldsborough said.
Hewett could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if she had gone to trial and been convicted.