A Lakeville woman, Cassandra Diane Smith, was found guilty by a Charlotte County jury in Florida on Friday, Dec. 17, for driving under the influence and then causing the death of a Florida police officer, according to a press release from a circuit court state attorney in Florida.

According to the press release, the crime occurred on Nov. 22, 2022 when the police officer, Christopher Taylor, was conducting a traffic stop on an interstate highway. During the traffic stop, a vehicle driven by Smith “traveled across three lanes of traffic and rotated clockwise towards the roadside where the traffic stop was being conducted” and then “slammed into the parked patrol car, causing both vehicles to rotate and hit Deputy Taylor and the other driver.”

It was determined that Smith had a blood alcohol level of .258. Taylor was fatally injured by the crash.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced in February.