Lord

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The city woman who pleaded no contest in April to charges filed after causing a fiery crash in Altoona was sentenced Monday to about three to 15 years in a state correctional facility.

Breanna Mae Lord, 26, entered a no-contest plea to all 13 charges against her, including 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 marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI. She also pleaded no contest to 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 on May 2, 2021. The vehicle burst into flames and caused “very serious injuries” to both Lord and her passenger.

The courtroom was filled with family and friends of both Lord and the victim, with many taking the time to read statements to President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who has presided over Lord’s case.

The victim described the cost of the crash and how it affected her and her loved ones. From her wheelchair, she told Kagarise the wreck took both of her legs, fingers, an ear and her hair and that she suffered burns “all over my body.”

The victim first had to rely on her mother as her full-time caregiver, but is now being cared for by one of her younger sisters.

“Every time I ask for help, I remember what I lost,” the victim said. “I never chose this life for myself, but I’m still glad to be here.”

She asked Kagarise to impose the maximum sentence allowed by law, saying she herself had “been given a life sentence.”

“I can work toward forgiveness, but I will never forget,” the victim said.

The victim’s sister, who is her current caregiver, addressed Lord in her statement, saying she would never forgive Lord.

“You are a coward,” she said. “You are a monster. There must be something fundamentally wrong with you.”

The victim’s mother also asked for Lord to be given the maximum sentence, as well as be ordered to pay restitution for the victim’s medical costs and subsequent care. She told Kagarise that the victim is her first-born child and the thought of losing her “was devastating.”

The victim’s mother said that the victim’s doctors told her she had to decide if the victim would remain on life support or “accept that she might be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life.”

Becoming her daughter’s full-time caregiver “changed my life,” the victim’s mother said, describing the financial hardship the wreck caused and how she would have to rent hotel rooms so the victim could bathe, as their home was not wheelchair accessible.

“This is not a temporary hardship,” the victim’s mother said. “We will have to live with this for the rest of our lives.”

Before presenting her sentencing recommendation, First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith called on Altoona police Officer Caleb Nixon, who was one of the first people on scene of the crash. Smith played footage from the body camera of another officer, with Nixon telling Kagarise what was happening on screen.

Toward the end of the footage, a paramedic can be heard speaking to the officer about the victim, who was still in the vehicle, saying “I don’t think she’s alive.”

Nixon told Kagarise that he’s been with the department for nine years and, before that, was an infantry Marine for five years.

“This incident is one of the most significant things I’ve ever witnessed,” Nixon said.

Retired Altoona Assistant Fire Chief Ralph Lee was also called on and described the difficulty of extracting the victim from the vehicle.

He said Lord struck the building so hard it moved the structure about four inches off its foundation and moved the vehicle’s engine block into the passenger cabin, where it rested on top of the victim.

Lee said the victim was “actively engulfed in fire” and had to be extinguished. When he and other first responders tried to free the victim, they were forced to “remove” the victim’s “lower extremities from her ankles.”

Smith then addressed Kagarise and asked for Lord to be sentenced to five to 20 years’ incarceration.

“That is the only sentence that gives justice,” Smith said.

Smith told Kagarise that Lord’s brain tumor, which was found in a scan following the crash, was being used as an “excuse.”

To highlight this point, Smith played part of a recorded phone call between Lord and her mother while Lord was still in prison about five months after the crash.

“It’s called an accident for a reason,” Lord can be heard saying. “If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have done that in my brand new Cadillac. I guess I should be glad they didn’t add charges because (the victim) is Black.”

The victim’s sister and caregiver left the courtroom in anger after the recording.

Smith told Kagarise that a blood sample taken from Lord about an hour after the wreck was positive for marijuana, noting the drug was still unmetabolized.

“I submit that the tumor didn’t make her a horrible person,” Smith said. “She can do that all on her own.”

Lord’s defense attorney, R. Thomas Forr, also called on people to speak on Lord’s behalf, including her two sisters and both parents.

Lord’s mother Lori used her chance to speak to turn and address the victim and her family, saying she thought the wreck was more her and her husband’s fault “as parents.”

“No mother should have to go through” what the victim’s mother went through, Lori Lord said.

She told Kagarise that the wreck was why Lord “is still here,” because doctors found her daughter’s brain tumor. Without that discovery, Lori Lord said Lord would have died within months due to the rate the tumor was growing.

“I have to apologize that we didn’t do more,” Lori Lord said. “I feel a lot of guilt for all of the small things we didn’t know about.”

John Lord, Lord’s father, similarly apologized and took blame for his daughter’s actions, saying “there can be no justice” in a case like theirs.

Breanna Lord was one of the last people to address Kagarise and told him she took full responsibility for what happened. Facing Kagarise, she apologized to the homeowners, first responders, the families affected and the victim.

“I am ashamed of my actions and the harm they have caused,” Lord said.

Forr then made his sentencing presentation, telling Kagarise that the situation was “terrible” and the victim had “suffered terribly.” He requested “only that the sentence be somewhere between” the guideline ranges of 15 to 60 months for Lord’s minimum sentence.

Before handing down Lord’s sentence, Kagarise said he didn’t feel a mitigated sentence was appropriate but didn’t think the family would be happy with his sentencing.

“No sentence is going to change” the victim and her family’s suffering, Kagarise said.

In addition to sentencing Lord to 40 to 180 months’ incarceration, Kagarise ordered her to pay $167,000 in restitution to the victim, pay about $1,800 in fines and complete a highway safety program.

In his order, Kagarise noted Forr contesting the restitution payment amount and gave the defense and prosecution 21 days to come to an agreement.

Lord was taken into custody following the hearing. She had remained free pending her case’s disposition after her mother posted Lord’s $75,000 bail on Feb. 16, 2022.

With the case’s resolution, 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.