Crime & Safety

Woman Convicted Of Driving Drunk With Kid In The Car

Tomeka Stockwell was sentenced to spend a year in jail

A woman was convicted of charges of child endangerment and operating a vehicle while intoxicated Monday morning in .

Tomeka Stockwell, 26, of Painesville, was -- .

She pleaded no contest to both charges, as well as a probation violation, because she was on probation for her previous drunk driving conviction.

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Judge John Trebets sentenced Stockwell to one year in Lake County jail. He also ordered her to take substance abuse and parenting classes.

"She understands that she let you down. She let herself down," Stockwell's attorney, Lake County Assistant Public Defender Mandy Gwirtz said, during the hearing.

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Stockwell apologized and said she hoped that some day she could take care of her children again.

Trebets replied that Stockwell would have to earn that privilege.

"You're saying you want your babies back and that's all well and good," Trebets said. "But you can't put your children back in that situation. You've done it twice now. I won't permit it to happen again. Society doesn't permit it."

The judge warned that Stockwell couldn't have more slipups if she hoped to receive custody of her children in the future.

"If you want your children back, you need to top-notch, number one, all of the time," he said. "You need to prove that you can be the mother I feel you can."

Stockwell was arrested in October. An officer spotted her car while it was parked on the side of Route 2 between the Route 306 and 615 exits, Mentor Police Lt. Tom Powers said. The car had a flat tire.

The officer suspected Stockwell of driving drunk. She failed field sobriety tests and refused to use the breathalyzer, Powers said.

She also had a 4-year-old child in the front seat. He was wearing a seatbelt but wasn't in a booster seat, which is required by law, Powers said.

She was first arrested for driving drunk in June. At the time, she had her 3-year-old son in the car and was eight months pregnant.


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