Danshell Evon, 38, was convicted Friday for gross negligent manslaughter and neglect of a minor among other charges for a 2022 crash in Wheaton that killed her 3-year-old daughter, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
In addition, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Theresa Chernosky also found Evon, of Bryans Road in Charles County, guilty of four counts of second-degree assault, according to the statement.
Evon faces up to 55 years in prison at her sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 9, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. May 12, 2022, as Evon was driving a 2015 Kia Optima at more than 98 mph on Connecticut Avenue near Atherton Drive seconds before her car collided with a 1997 Ford F-150, according to the data recorder in her vehicle.
Evon’s 3-year-old was “improperly secured in a backless booster seat which contributed to her death,” the statement said.
“This heartbreaking loss of such a young member of our community is a tragedy that was easily avoidable,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said. “At the speeds the defendant was traveling, she wasn’t driving a car, she was steering a missile down the road in the middle of rush hour. If the barest of common-sense parenting skills were in place, there would have been a proper child safety seat installed.”
Both occupants of the Ford and Evon’s two 13-year-old children suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the collision, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
As shown in evidence photos submitted to the court, her car was totaled in the collision. The airbags were deployed, the front windshield was shattered, and the front of the vehicle crumbled due to the impact.
According to digital court records, Evon is being represented by a public defender. The Maryland Office of the Public Defender declined to comment.