MILFORD, Conn. — A Hamden woman was sentenced to 66 months imprisonment for the vehicular death of Elizabeth DiMaggio.
Nicole Labonte, 37, was sentenced in Milford on Wednesday.
Labonte was arrested in March 2019 following an investigation by West Haven police. Members of the West Haven Police Major Accident Squad determined that Labonte had struck DiMaggio as she tried to cross Elm Street in West Haven on the night of November 9, 2018.
Labonte would later confess to driving under the influence at that time, and cellphone records showed she was using her phone and on a phone call. After hitting DiMaggio with her car, Labonte did not stop, despite later telling officers that she knew that she'd hit someone. DiMaggio was trapped underneath Labonte’s motor vehicle as Labonte continued driving, dragging the victim for approximately one half-mile before ultimately stopping. The victim was extricated from beneath Labonte’s car and declared dead shortly thereafter.
The Chief Medical Examiner’s autopsy report concluded that she died not from the initial impact of the car, but rather from the traumatic asphyxiation caused by her extended dragging beneath it.
Labonte entered guilty pleas to one count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree with a Motor Vehicle, and one count of Evading Responsibility involving Death.
Assistant State’s Attorney Lawrence Scharpf, who prosecuted the case, read a statement from DiMaggio's mother as she expressed her satisfaction and gratitude to the State for prosecuting the case to its conclusion.
Judge Brown then sentenced Labonte to a total sentence of 12 years suspended after 66 months to serve, followed by five years of probation.
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