Feb 4, 2015 3 min read

The woman who hosted an underage drinking party nearly four years ago at her Blaine Township home after which one of the intoxicated teens died in a car crash will not face jail time.

Elizabeth Ann Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to minors in exchange for the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter being dropped in connection with the single-vehicle crash that killed 19-year-old Christopher Wetzel on June 18, 2011.

Washington County Judge Gary Gilman ordered Smith to serve 24 months of probation, pay a $1,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service at the plea hearing that occurred Wednesday morning, just before her trial was set to begin.

Investigators said Smith had purchased a case of beer for the party at her house at 3250 Constitution Blvd. before Wetzel and two others left. Wetzel, who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit acceptable for an adult to drive, lost control about a half-mile from the house, and his sport utility vehicle rolled over on Route 221 in Taylorstown. He was ejected from the vehicle and died of asphyxiation from head and torso injuries, investigators said.

Two other teens in the car, Elizabeth Strawn, who was 17 at the time, and Paul Shirley, who was 19, suffered minor injuries in the crash. A fourth minor remained at Smith’s house for the night. No family members of the victim, nor the two other people involved in the crash, attended the plea hearing.

“They were consulted and understood the reason for the compromise, so to speak,” Washington County Assistant District Attorney Jerry Moschetta said of conversations with the family.

Smith’s defense attorney, Joe Yablonski, said his client was “devastated” by the fatal crash because she and the victim were close friends. Smith did not speak at the hearing, and Yablonski said she has not talked to the family since right after the crash.

“It’s just an unfortunate accident,” Yablonski said. “Certainly, she didn’t intend for this to happen.”

The two sides had been discussing the plea bargain for a lengthy period before coming to an agreement Tuesday afternoon, just after the jury had been selected for Smith’s trial.

Moschetta said the prosecution encountered a variety of factors that made a manslaughter conviction difficult. He said the witnesses were unsure how much alcohol Smith had purchased, and said Wetzel had brought a six-pack of his own beer to the party. The prosecution could not prove that Smith had purchased an opened bottle of whiskey found in the victim’s car, Moschetta said.

“When you’re dealing with people’s recollection about what occurred four years ago when they were impaired, there’s certainly room for reasonable doubt,” Moschetta said.

The “road-worthy” condition of Wetzel’s vehicle, which had deflated tires and other issues, also raised questions about whether alcohol or a “catastrophic failure” contributed to the crash, Moschetta said. Yablonski echoed those sentiments and said the vehicle’s condition would have been a key component to the defense.

“The car was just a mess,” Yablonski said. “It shouldn’t have been on the road.”