The August 2011 crash happened when Gough slammed into the back of a minivan on West National Road, investigators said. Lauren Drummond, a 5-year-old child riding in the vehicle, was killed. Cell phone records showed Gough was texting on her phone before the crash, but the prosecution wasn’t able to prove she was texting at the exact time of the collision.
Gough was sentenced to 90 days in jail after she pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter in July 2012. Trempe suspended 60 of those days, leaving Gough to serve 30 days.
Aside from the jail time, Gough’s license was suspended, she was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and had to attend traffic safety school.
At that time, she was also asked to pay a $500 fine and $7,000 in restitution.
Gough decided to appeal the restitution. Lauren’s mother, Kelly Kazlo, said the appeal was put on the docket last year, and the family thought she would drop it.
“It was quiet for a while, and no one asked us for any information,” Kazlo said. “We thought the judge put a stay on it, saying they needed to produce whatever documents they were going to, and no one produced any documents. We thought she would gain some consciousness.”
Gough was at the courthouse Thursday but left before the hearing started. The attorney representing her, Kevin Lennen, declined to comment on the decision to withdraw the appeal.
Jaye Drummond, Lauren’s father, said the family wasn’t made aware of Thursday’s hearing until two days before.
“We didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “So we’ve had to scramble to get the documents together.”
“The paperwork showed zero was paid for funeral expenses,” Lazlo said.
Jaye Drummond was in the car at the time of the crash. He said it will be a “lifetime issue” the family will struggle with.
“The judge ordered her to pay us restitution — only $7,000,” he said. “It was supposed to go towards Lauren’s funeral costs. (That’s) not even half of it …
“It’s infuriating that we still have to deal with this two years after the death,” Jaye Drummond said.
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