Fox Chase woman sentenced in fatal DUI

A Fox Chase woman convicted of homicide in an alcohol-fueled accident that killed a man on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2005 was sentenced Friday to 3-1/2 to 7 years in prison.

Drinking and driving "is unacceptable, this is not normal, and it's not part of growing up," Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes told Amanda Everly, 24.

The judge noted that Everly's victim, Phillip Yu, 24, was the only child of Chinese immigrants, an aspiring architect who was his parents' translator and their link to English-speaking Philadelphia.

"You took a lot," Hughes said, "and you owe a lot to this community."

The judge had even harsher words for Everly's family and friends.

"She is going to jail!" Hughes said, glaring at parents Brian and Patricia Everly. "You coddled her and you continue to coddle each other."

Hughes said it was clear Everly's family turned a blind eye to her drinking, begun at 16, and marijuana smoking.

The judge cited several letters supporting Everly and blaming the Dec. 3, 2005 crash on confusing signage and poor lighting at Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue.

"You all have some responsibility for this," Hughes said. "You knew she was drinking and you knew she drank excessively and you didn't do anything about it."

The accident happened about 12:30 a.m. when Everly made a wrong turn and drove northbound in the boulevard's southbound outer lanes. Her 2001 Subaru crashed head-on into Yu's 1994 Honda.

Everly, whose blood-alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit, was treated and released. Her 16-year-old passenger, also drunk, sustained back injuries.

Everly went to trial in October 2008. The jury convicted her of aggravated assault by driving intoxicated and driving while intoxicated, but could not reach a verdict on the homicide by motor vehicle count. A retrial this past February ended in a mistrial.

However, a third trial, also in February, resulted in a guilty verdict on the homicide charge.

In arguing for a prison term beyond the mandatory 3- to 6-year minimum, Assistant District Attorney MK Feeney cited Everly's lack of remorse at trial, her continued drinking after the crash and jokes about heavy drinking on her Facebook page.

Defense attorney Michael E. Wallace told the judge the crash has seriously damaged both families: "There's nothing that can be said."

Everly wept as she read to the Yu family from a paper held in shaking, cuffed hands. She said she was "filled with remorse" for "that day when an innocent man died and his family lost their only son because of me." She said she looked forward to a second chance after prison.

The judge was skeptical: "I do think you are remorseful today, but I think you're remorseful because I forced you."

Hughes was referring to her revocation of Everly's bail after the guilty verdict in February, sending her to jail pending sentencing.

In addition to prison and a $1,000 fine, Hughes put Everly on seven years' reporting probation after prison and ordered her to speak monthly to youths about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Everly was the second young person sent to prison this week for killing someone while driving and intoxicated.

On Tuesday another Philadelphia judge sentenced Joseph Genovese Jr., 20, to seven to 14 years in prison. Genovese pleaded guilty to being high on marijuana when he ran down two fans in 2008 as they were a Phillies game. One woman died and another was permanently disabled.