The woman who left her children behind after a car crash was sentenced to probation Monday. The judge decided not to send her to prison, saying the whole incident was out of character.
Christal Mallett was in tears inside the courtroom, telling the judge she made the biggest mistake of her life.
Mallett: Attorney "this is the strangest case, single mother working hard to raise 6 kids, but she had no reason to flee police"
— Marissa Kynaston (@marissaktnv) March 28, 2016
"I would like to apologize to everybody who was in the situation," says Mallett. "I would like to apologize to my family."
Back in October 2015, Mallett was about to be pulled over by officers because she had a traffic warrant. She took off. She crashed into a block wall, then left her children in the car, as she ran to escape police.
Christal Mallett, who left her 2 kids in her car while she tried to escape police, is in court today for sentencing pic.twitter.com/Vs6StYzumS
— Marissa Kynaston (@marissaktnv) March 28, 2016
"I never meant to cause all this trouble," says Mallett. "I never meant to hurt anybody."
Her attorney says she didn't want to miss Halloween with her six kids.
"She was on her way to buy Halloween costumes for her kids," says her attorney, Michael Miceli. "She was worried she was going to miss Halloween and trick or treating."
According to a risk assessment, the judge found that Mallett had no history of mental health issues, no drug abuse problems, and very little criminal history.
One of her children even wrote the judge a letter, asking the judge not to send his mom to prison.
The judge agreed Mallett had made a terrible judgment call, one that put her kids lives in danger. He sentenced her to no more than 5 years probation. If she violates that probation, she would then have to go to jail for a sentence of 32 months to 12 years.
Mallett sentenced to up to 5 years probation, faces 32-144 months in prison if violates her probation
— Marissa Kynaston (@marissaktnv) March 28, 2016
"This is one of those tough cases where you go in really caring for the client, " says Mallett's attorney, Mike Miceli. "I was very concerned that she was going to go to prison, and luckily she's getting a second chance on probation."
Mallett's kids have been staying with family members. Her attorney says there is a plan in place for her to get them back, but it won't be right away.
