A 19-year-old driver joked about being too drunk to drive before spinning out of control in a crash that killed a friend who was just two weeks shy of her 18th birthday party, UK police said.
Harrowing footage recently released by Derbyshire police shows the moment Melissa Keilloh, now 20, decided to drive Phoebe Johnson, 17, and her cousin home after playing drinking games at a party in October 2021.
“Do you feel like you are going to put our lives in danger,” someone asks Keilloh as she’s about to take off from the driveway.
“One hundred percent,” she responds. “I’m f–ked up.”
Just 15 minutes into the drive while speeding at 72 mph on A514, Keilloh clips a curb and the occupants scream in terror as the car spins out of control and flips off the road, sending Phoebe flying out of the car.
“I’ve killed Phoebe,” Keilloh could be heard screaming after she discovers her friend’s body by a hedge.
The critically injured Phoebe could be heard telling her friend, “I’m scared,” as he appeared to ask about her condition.
“No you’re not, I’m fine, cos I’m sober now,” Keilloh could be heard trying to reassure her dying friend.
The horrifying footage was captured on Keilloh’s own dash cam and released with the permission of Phoebe’s parents as part of a video warning to drunk drivers.
“Life can be taken from you in just a heartbeat,” mother Nicola Johnson said in the video. “When I did go round [to see her in the hospital] I just held her hand and I didn’t want to leave.
“It just drains everything from you, everything is just an effort and you wonder how long I have to go through this pain for,” she added. “It’s had such a massive impact not just on us and our families but friends and the wider community.”
Grieving dad Paul Johnson likened the crash and the lead up to it as a “runaway train nobody could get off” as testimony from partygoers revealed the group of teens had initially decided not to drive home before changing their minds just moments later.
Keilloh was sentenced to three years in prison in January after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driver, with authorities also banning her from driving a vehicle for six-and-a-half years.
Derbyshire Police said in a statement that the story serves as part of their “Just a Second” campaign, which urges residents to stop and think before they get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
“We hope that their story will help us show just what the reality of reckless behavior behind the wheel can lead to,” officials said. It just isn’t worth the risk.”