An Illinois woman pled guilty to homicide Tuesday in the death of a five-year-old whom she ran over with her car after "huffing."
Carly Rousso, 19, inhaled chemicals from a computer-cleaning duster, then got behind the wheel of her car. She struck a family of family of four, backed up over the family, then ran over them a third time. Five-year-old Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento was killed.
Rousso told police that she was depressed and suicidal the day of the homicide, which took place on Labor Day in 2012. She was a drug and alcohol abuser, and was just two weeks out of drug rehab.
In her father's Lexus, she drove to a Highland Park Walgreens and purchased Blast Away—a can of chemicals used to clean computers.
Mistakenly referred to as "compressed air," the cans actually contain dangerous chemicals such as difluoroethane. Inhaling their contents, commonly called "huffing," can cause a euphoric high, and can also lead to lightheadedness, hallucinations, and death.
After getting high, Rousso jumped a curb on Central Avenue, and hit Modesta Sacramento-Jimenez and her three children: Jaclyn, 5, Daniel Santos-Sacramento, 4, and Carlitos Santos-Sacramento, 2. All of the family members were injured, but Jaclyn did not survive.
During her testimony on Tuesday, Sacramento-Jimenez described what can be seen on a surveillance video.
"She ran over my daughter's legs, then came forward, and went over her again," she told the court, speaking through an interpreter.
Rousso told police that that she does not remember hitting the family.
She only recalls looking at her steering wheel, then seeing someone knocking on her window. "It gets blurry after that," she said. "I don't remember stopping the car."
Rousso faces three to 14 years in prison. She is currently out on a $500,000 bond, and will be sentenced Thursday.
Prosecutor Michael Ori told the court that the tragedy could have been avoided entirely.
"For $22 she got a high, and a little girl is not here because of it," Ori said.
