Rhode Island woman sentenced for role in crash that killed 25-year-old Massachusetts grad

Attorney General Peter Neronha announced today that a Woonsocket woman has been sentenced in Kent County Superior Court to the Adult Correctional Institutions after pleading to driving under the influence and causing a crash that killed 25-year-old Caleb Winfrey in 2021.

At a hearing on October 19, 2023, before Superior Court Justice David Cruise, 33-year-old Audriana Hill entered a plea of nolo contendere to one count of driving under the influence, death resulting. Judge Cruise sentenced the defendant to 15 years, with eight years to serve at the ACI, and a seven-year suspended sentence, with 15 years of probation.

“This case is a tragic example of the utter destruction that driving under the influence can cause,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Caleb Winfrey was a promising young man with his whole life ahead of him and his death is every parent’s worst nightmare realized. The defendant’s decision to drive drunk caused Caleb’s family the worst kind of pain imaginable, and I commend the courage they demonstrated when Caleb’s father provided a victim impact statement in Court. I am grateful to the Warwick Police Department and the Rhode Island State Police for their outstanding work and partnership in this case and so many others.”

Had the case proceeded to a trial, the State was prepared to prove that on December 7, 2021, the defendant drove under the influence of alcohol and caused a crash that killed Winfrey.

At approximately 5:51 p.m. that evening, Warwick Police responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash with injuries at the intersection of West Natick Road and Bald Hill Road. Prior to the crash, Hill was travelling south on Bald Hill Road in a 2021 Kia K5 at approximately 81 mph, and according to the subsequent crash investigation, never applied the brakes before crashing into the victim in his 2016 Toyota Corolla. Rescue personnel arrived first on scene and transported both parties involved in the crash to Rhode Island Hospital after extracting Hill from her vehicle using the jaws of life. In the ambulance, witnesses found two empty nips in Hill’s clothes and described an odor of alcohol emanating from her breath.

Officers followed the rescue vehicles to the hospital and went to Hill’s critical care room, where they observed her having bloodshot eyes as she spoke to them. She then consented to a chemical blood test, the results of which showed she had a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.165% at the time of the test.

Meanwhile, investigators remained on scene to reconstruct the crash by collecting physical and photographic evidence. Officers discovered four open containers of alcohol near Hill’s vehicle. Additionally, an independent witness described seeing Hill drive through a “solid” red light before hitting the victim.

“This tragedy was completely avoidable, and unfortunately we see impaired driving cases like this one all too often,” said Colonel Bradford E. Connor of the Warwick Police Department. “While there is no justice that can undo the pain caused to this victim’s family, I commend their bravery in making sure the defendant was held accountable. I also want to thank our officers and investigators, as well as our partners at the Attorney General’s Office, for their investigation and prosecution of this case.”

Winfrey was a graduate from Amherst College before working in Rhode Island and lived in Florida before college. Those who knew him described him as selfless, smart, and funny.

Assistant Attorney General John Corrigan of the Office of the Attorney General and members of the Warwick Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case with collision reconstruction assistance from the Rhode Island State Police.