A Hot Springs woman who pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to drunken driving on Halloween night in 2013 that injured multiple people has been sentenced to more than 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Authorities were called shortly after 7 p.m. that night to Quail Ridge Drive and Covey Rise Trail, where residents had detained Twila Gail Watson, 29, after she struck multiple cars and injured three pedestrians in the neighborhood.
Watson faced two counts of second-degree battery, four counts of aggravated assault and one count of driving while intoxicated, records show.
According to court records, Watson was sentenced to six years in the Correction Department for each count of second-degree battery. She was also sentenced to four years each for two counts of aggravated assault and one year in prison for each of the two other assault charges, for a total of 22 years.
On the DWI count, the jury sentenced Watson to one year in the Garland County jail, ordered her to pay a $1,000 fine and suspended her driver's license for 120 days, records show.
The terms are to be served consecutively, according to court filings.
Watson registered a blood-alcohol content at 0.20 percent, more than two times the legal limit, at the time of the crashes, according to the Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs.
Witnesses described Watson's vehicle as driving "extremely fast" south on Quail Ridge Drive before hitting a tree, traveling north and attempting to turn onto Covey Rise Trail, the newspaper reported.