The city woman accused of causing a fiery crash in Altoona on May 2, 2021, pleaded no contest to all charges in exchange for about one to five years’ incarceration.

Breanna Mae Lord, 26, was facing single felony counts of aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, single misdemeanor counts of unlawful restraint, recklessly endangering another person, possession of drug paraphernalia, marijuana possession and DUI, as well as six summary traffic violations.

The charges were brought after Lord allegedly drove into a building along the 700 block of 29th Street at a high rate of speed. The vehicle burst into flames and caused “very serious injuries” to both Lord and her passenger.

As a result of the crash, all of the passenger’s fingers were amputated, her right leg was amputated above the knee and her left leg was amputated below the knee. The passenger also suffered substantial burns to a significant portion of her body, the police report states.

Lord accepted a plea deal on March 10, a day after her jury trial was scheduled to begin. The trial was cancelled on March 9 and subject to potential rescheduling at the court’s discretion.

As a part of the plea deal, Lord pleaded no contest to all charges in exchange for 15- to 60-months’ incarceration in a state correctional facility. She is scheduled for sentencing on May 4 in front of President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who has presided over the majority of the case.

The deal comes after nearly four years of litigation, during which a main point of contention between the prosecution and defense was the possible admission of expert reports regarding the use of an insanity defense.

Defense attorney R. Thomas Forr challenged the charges in January 2025, asking Kagarise to accept evidence showing Lord had a brain tumor removed two months after the crash. Forr argued that the tumor was the cause of the crash, thereby relieving Lord of criminal responsibility.

According to court documents, an MRI performed on Lord following the crash found a frontal lobe tumor.

In a report given to the court on what was to be the first day of Lord’s trial, Dr. Ciceron Opida of Advanced NeuroGeriatric Care wrote that, after reviewing Lord’s records, a portion of the police report and other evidence, he believed “within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Lord was more likely than not experiencing seizure activity at the time of the motor vehicle accident.”

“The brain tumor discovered on MRI post motor vehicle accident was responsible for seizure activity, personality change and the poor judgement of Lord,” Opida wrote. “With a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I conclude that the brain tumor was a direct cause of (Lord’s accident).”

In a subsequent motion, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks asked Kagarise to exclude Opida’s report and any mention of Lord’s tumor from the trial.

“The case has been delayed by Lord for the purposes of seeking expert reports regarding a medical condition that was discovered subsequent to this event,” Weeks wrote in his motion. “Three expert reports have been previously proffered on behalf of Lord and subsequently excluded by the court for various deficiencies.”

Opida’s report, the fourth provided to the court, “does not satisfy the requirements of an insanity defense” as it, and the previous reports, fail to address “Lord’s sanity or competency,” Weeks wrote.

He further described Lord’s tumor as “irrelevant” and stated that if it were mentioned during trial, it would be “unduly prejudicial” by “attempting to carve an exception to criminal conduct where none exists and currying sympathy for Lord.”

Lord accepted the offered plea deal before both Forr could respond to Weeks’s request and Kagarise could enter an opinion on the matter.

Once the case is resolved, Lord will face litigation on charges brought in a separate case filed in June 2020.

In that case, Lord was charged with single felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass, misdemeanor counts of simple assault and criminal mischief, as well as two summary counts of harassment and single summary counts of criminal mischief and purchasing alcohol while underage.

The charges were filed after Lord allegedly kicked in the door of a Juniata residence and assaulted two people inside.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.