A Colorado state senator who caused a fatal car crash that killed a pregnant woman has been let off with only some minor traffic citations and a $268 fine. Read the full story after the jump and tell us what you think her sentencing should have been…

Wendy L.

(DailyMail)

Suzanne Williams, 65, caused the accident when she started driving on the wrong side of the highway and ended up crashing into a car and killing Brianna ‘Brie’ Gomez, 30, who was pregnant with her third child. 

The accident happened in Channing, Texas on the day after Christmas last year when Mrs Williams was driving with her grown son Todd Williams, 41, and her two grandchildren, Tyler, 7, and Tristan, 3. 

The Williams family was driving north from Dallas to Vail, Colorado, when Ms. Williams drove into the southbound lane for an unknown reason.

Mrs Williams’ vehicle then crashed into the car of Eric and Brie Gomez, high school sweethearts and parents of two who were travelling with their children. 

Mrs Gomez, a child therapist and counsellor, was airlifted to a nearby hospital and doctors performed an emergency C-section to save her baby, Curran. Mrs Gomez died shortly after the baby was delivered. 

Also injured in the crash were all three passengers in Ms Williams’ car. 

Ms Williams, who is the vice-chair of the transportation committee in the Colorado State Senate and has fought actively to strengthen seatbelt laws, was the only person in her car that was wearing a seatbelt. 

Her son Todd and grandson Tyler were ejected from the car and were treated after the crash, with Todd being placed in serious condition at one point.

All passengers in the Gomez car were wearing their seatbelts. 

Initial reports suspected that Mrs Williams may be charged with criminally negligent homicide, a Texas jury decided not to charge Mrs Williams for the crime.

On Friday, she received citations for having an unsecured passenger under 17, having a child under the age of 8 unsecured by a safety seat system, and driving on the wrong side of a highway. 

‘All of the facts and circumstances were covered, and the grand jury determined no charges were brought,’ Texas District Attorney David Green said. 

In total, those three traffic violations demand a fine of $200. The remaining $68 came from court fees.

The crash attracted some national attention at the time because of the perceived hypocrisy that Mrs Williams was Colorado’s most vocal supporter of strict seatbelt laws but failed to enforce the rule in her own car. 

At the time of the crash, her son Todd was trying to get the children into their pyjamas and ready for bed. 

‘I cannot express the horror, sadness and grief I feel for an accident that will change forever the lives of a young family,’ Mrs Williams said in a statement shortly after the crash. 

‘It is a burden I will carry with me for the rest of my life,’ she continued.  

Most notably, Mrs Williams passed a measure in Colorado that required children under the age of 8 to be secured in booster seats, which her two grandchildren were not doing at the time of the crash. 

Williams succeeded in passing a measure requiring children 8 and younger to ride in booster seats. The previous law required children 6 and younger to be secured in booster seats. The new measure went into effect in August.

When a local ABC News affiliate contacted Mrs Williams after the verdict on Friday evening, she had little to say. 

‘The case is over, that is not something I want to talk about,’ Mrs Williams told ABC 7 Denver. 

Mrs Williams is Colorado’s only Native American legislator and is now in her second and final term as a Democratic State Senator.