After causing fatal crash in '08, Utah woman busted driving drunk

A woman who caused a double fatal crash while driving on sleeping medication nearly four years ago has violated her probation by driving drunk.

Now prosecutors are asking a judge to send Alecia L. Kap to prison.

Kap, 31, was driving under the influence of Ambien in 2008 when she hit and killed Dean S. Arave and his wife, Verna Arave.

Kap "blacked out" the morning of May 20, 2008, while driving on Highway 193 in Layton. She ran a red light and hit the Araves' car. Dean Arave, 82, died a short time later a hospital. His 80-year-old wife died the next day.

Prosecutors say Kap "got a great deal" when she was sentenced to a year in jail and 36 months probation after pleading to a reduced count of third-degree felony automobile homicide.

Earlier this month, Kap violated her probation by drinking and driving in sand dunes near Wendover, officials said.

"It seems to me that she just has not learned," Davis County prosecutor Rick Westmoreland said. "She needs to be punished."

Kap faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison when she is sentenced May 7 by 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin.

Defense attorney Richard Gallegos said he believes Kap deserves another chance at probation, possibly with jail time.

"She's trying to get help for her addiction," Gallegos said. "There's a punitive aspect and a treatment aspect. You always want to give someone a chance at probation rather than just sending them to prison if they have a good attitude and are willing to work. I think that's where Alecia falls."

afalk@sltrib.com