A mother of three lost her life after a Georgia man received a prison sentence for his third drunk driving offense.
Jayleen Hannor was convicted on Friday of 18 years in prison, with all but eight years suspended, for a crash in August 2023. On August 1, Hannor was driving along I-495’s outer loop after a night of drinking. When he began driving in the opposite direction along I-270 and I-495, he collided with a Nissan Pathfinder head-on.
The incident disrupted traffic flow so severely that a third car, a Lexus RX, was unable to escape it and crashed with the Pathfinder.
The Pathfinder’s driver, Elizabeth Velez, died in the crash, leaving her teenage daughter with life-threatening injuries and injuring her husband and two other children, aged eight and one. The family was heading from Pennsylvania to South Carolina on vacation.
A local hospital treated the passengers in the Lexus RX for minor injuries. The police found Hannor wandering along the inner circle of the beltway, near the Connecticut Avenue exit, after he fled. A breath test revealed that his alcohol level was more than double the legal limit.
Hannor faced charges for drunk driving in the past. This was his third offense in 13 months. He is facing charges in connection with the other two incidents, which occurred in Georgia.
The fate of his extradition to Georgia for the remaining charges remains uncertain. Hannor will also have to undergo five years of supervised probation after his release.
