Drunk driver gets four years probation

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The woman who drove drunk and hit and killed a 26-year-old named Nathan Gatchell learned her sentence Friday.  Family and friends of both the victim and the driver, Anissa Northrup, spoke in court.

Emotions were high in the courtroom as both sides waited to see how the judge would punish Northrup.  Previously in court, she pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated and failing to stop after an accident resulting in death.  After hearing testimony on the character of Gatchell and Northrup, the judge sentenced her to four years probation.  Her license will also be suspended for two years.  Northrup hit Gatchell near the intersection of Jefferson and Broadway.

 "This is a case that we needed to make sure that we explored every angle of it working with law enforcement to make sure that we had the right answer and the right charges to proceed," Allen County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Adam Mildred explained.

"She's going to live with that.  That's the punishment.  What happened right here wasn't a punishment.  You can give her 10, 20 years.  The punishment was the memory and the stigma that's attached to her because what she was involved with," Victim's Cousin, Matthew Smith said.

NewsChannel 15 tried to catch up with Northrup and her attorney but they left the courthouse quickly.  Northrup's family begged and pleaded with the judge for probation instead of jail time because she's a single mom and has two young children.  The judge took that into consideration as well has her community involvement with the Boy Scouts and the American Red Cross.