Family of woman charged with drunken driving death responds to tragedy

Although they know they can't change the past, Ceara Abbott's uncle said the pain his niece feels inside will be worse than any sentence a judge could give.

"I can't fix this for either side. It's killing me. I don't know what to do. I'm so sorry that they're waking up to this today," Edward Abbott, Ceara's uncle, told FOX 2 he'd like to say to the victim's family. "The Abbott family would do everything in their power to change this for them."

His niece, Ceara, is facing charges for driving under the influence of alcohol causing death after a car accident killed 21-year-old Samantha Mullins.

"She's made some bad mistakes. She's affected a lot of lives. Someone lost their life - the worst thing you could possibly want to happen," Edward said.

Police received a 911 call Thursday evening from a woman who said she'd been hit by a semi-truck, and that her friend -- now known to be Mullins -- flew out of the car and was not responsive. Investigators later determined a semi-truck had not hit them, but Mullins, who was in the front seat, got into a fight with a back seat passenger, causing the driver -- now known to be Ceara -- to lose control of the vehicle and crash.

Listening to a recording of the 911 call brought Ceara's uncle to tears, knowing how much his niece cared about Mullins.

"The minute it happened she felt like she was gone. It was over for her. She wanted to trade places. She did not want to be the one alive," Edward said.

Edward said Mullins and Ceara had been friends since they were little. The two and a friend were on the town drinking the night of the incident, and her uncle agrees his niece shouldn't been behind the wheel.

"The worst punishment she could get for this crime. The time is prison she's going to get ... is going to be nothing. I know my niece and she'll look at it as nothing. She won't feel it's hard enough because what she's got inside is worse than anything they could ever do to her," Edward said, only imagining what Samantha's family is now going through, along with Samantha's 2-year-old daughter.

"Samantha's not here and that family can never say another word to her again, and we have the option to talk to Ceara. To me, this is the biggest crime there is, right here -- that that baby's going to grow up without a mom."

While reminding Ceara to have faith and to stay strong, the family hopes others will think twice before getting behind the wheel drunk.

The family of Mullins was too distraught to speak with FOX 2, but has created a GoFundMe account found here to help support the family.