One Salem Township woman is being held accountable for her role in a drunk driving car accident which killed three Pennsylvania teens. The car accident happened shortly after a high school graduation party that the woman hosted for her son. The woman bought a half-keg of beer for the underage recent graduates and one of the drunk party goers caused a serious crash a short time later.

The woman told police that she checked to make sure that the drivers at the party were not drinking, but it turns out that the 19-year-old driver who attended the party had a blood alcohol level of 0.0147 percent. The legal limit for adult drivers is 0.08 percent and the legal limit for minors is 0.02 percent.

Prosecutors charged the woman with multiple counts of corruption of minors and reckless endangerment in connection with this incident. The woman recently pled guilty to those charges and additional charges of furnishing alcohol to minors.

Regardless of the criminal repercussions of this incident, the most horrible thing is that three young people will now never have a chance to grow up and fulfill their potential. The woman’s son, who was not part of the crash, lost three of his friends and will forever have his high school graduation associated with the death of three of his friends.

The families of the deceased teens are also bereft. “I have lost my faith in myself as a mother,” the mother of one of the car accident victims said. “I was unable to keep my son safe although so many times we had discussed it. I should have said more or said something differently. I am haunted by those last few moments of his life.”

Source: Tribune-Review, “Salem Township mother guilty of providing alcohol to teens,” Rich Cholodofsky, Jan. 24, 2012