'Absolutely no remorse': Woman 'panicked' when she saw police lights and killed a 70-year-old grandmother

A 35-year-old pistillate successful Washington state volition walk much than 2 decades down bars for causing a deadly high-speed crash portion fleeing police, showing "absolutely nary remorse" aft barreling into different conveyance and killing a 70-year-old grandmother.

Nicole Romanoff connected Monday pleaded blameworthy to second-degree execution and vehicular battle successful transportation with the September 2024 pursuit that killed Gina Munna, tribunal records show. Following her plea, Thurston County Superior Judge Christine Schaller instantly ordered Romanoff to service 275 months — conscionable nether 23 years — successful a authorities correctional facility, followed by 3 years of assemblage custody.

Several of Munna's friends and household members urged the tribunal to enforce the harshest punishment imaginable during the hearing, describing the devastating interaction of her abrupt death.

"Please present accountability today," Munna's niece said, adding that the household has struggled not with "what if she had stopped for police," but whether she would ever beryllium held responsible, according to a report from Seattle-based ABC affiliate KOMO.

Prosecutors likewise argued for a lengthy sentence, pointing to Romanoff's extended transgression past — including dozens of anterior arrests — and the utmost information posed by the pursuit.

A Washington State Patrol trooper wrote successful the apprehension study that Romanoff "showed perfectly nary remorse for her actions" and "never asked however the injured victims were doing," the presumption reported.

The justice yet went with a condemnation that exceeded the proposal from prosecutors, explaining that Romanoff's actions showed a wide disregard for quality beingness and her decisions led straight to Munna's death.

"The tribunal finds it hard to judge that your thought process was, 'Police can't prosecute vehicles that flee, truthful I'm going to flee,'" the justice said. "You were already speeding erstwhile instrumentality enforcement saw you. If you thought they would halt pursuing you, you rapidly learned that was not the lawsuit due to the fact that they continued to prosecute you."

In further remarks from the bench, Schaller emphasized that Romanoff's actions lone ended due to the fact that of the clang itself.

"Those were the choices that you made and that you continued to make, and the lone crushed you stopped is due to the fact that you crashed into this car," the justice said, according to a report from Seattle ABC affiliate KIRO.

The lawsuit stems from events that took spot connected Sept. 7, 2024, erstwhile Romanoff was reportedly walking done a Lacey vicinity asking strangers wherever she could acquisition fentanyl. She was aboriginal seen getting into a stolen pickup motortruck and driving away.

Roughly 40 minutes later, a Thurston County sheriff's lawman spotted the conveyance and attempted a postulation stop. Instead, Romanoff accelerated, reaching speeds of up to 90 mph successful a 35 to 40 mph zone, weaving done traffic, and driving erratically, investigators said.

Romanoff reportedly believed that if she drove recklessly capable and that pursuing her presented a information to the community, constabulary would beryllium forced to wantonness the pursuit — a assertion she aboriginal repeated to instrumentality enforcement.

Additional details shared by Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders indicated Romanoff had already endangered others earlier the pursuit escalated. In a societal media post, Sanders said Romanoff attempted to tally implicit a homeowner who refused to assistance her get drugs, forcing the idiosyncratic to dive down a histrion for safety. Deputies aboriginal observed her passing vehicles successful a no-passing portion and "nearly causing aggregate head-on crashes" arsenic she sped done postulation and blew done reddish lights.

Deputies deployed spike strips, but Romanoff drove done them and continued driving, slamming head-on into different conveyance astatine a large intersection successful Olympia.

Munna was killed successful the crash, portion her sister and brother-in-law reportedly suffered superior injuries, including breached vertebrae and ribs, Seattle NBC affiliate KING reported.

Investigators aboriginal determined Romanoff had fentanyl, methadone, and methamphetamine successful her strategy astatine the clip of the crash.

Following her arrest, she allegedly insisted to officers, "I didn't termination anybody. Nobody died," adjacent arsenic archetypal responders worked astatine the scene.

Given the accidental to talk during Monday's hearing, Romanoff work a little apology. Her lawyer sought a lesser sentence, reportedly asserting that his lawsuit had been "lost, high, and confused" during the incidental and was presently seeking attraction for addiction.

"When she realized instrumentality enforcement was attempting to halt her and the conveyance she was in, she panicked," the defence lawyer reportedly wrote successful a sentencing memo. "She knew of instrumentality enforcement's stated argumentation not to prosecute successful conveyance pursuits if driving was unsafe to the public. She believed that if she drove recklessly, constabulary would terminate the pursuit, and she could spell location and get everything nether control."