By: Goldie Guttenberg
“Don’t ever ride in a car driven by Mary Hill.” That’s what Carrie Brown, 14, was told by her mother, Olympic gymnastics coach Rita Brown. But, it was Carrie’s misfortune to be riding in the back seat of Mary Hill’s BMW on August 7, 2000 – the first day of
school. With her were the driver’s daughter, Amy Hill, 13, and fellow eighth-grader Zachary Rockwell, also 13. In less than one-tenth of a mile, Mary Hill has accelerated from zero to seventy miles per hour, tearing along roads posted at nearly half that speed. She crashed the BMW, killing her daughter Amy and Carrie Brown outright and leaving Zak Rockwell with brain damage. Hill herself escaped with relatively minor injuries – but she couldn’t escape the law. In a series of sensational trials, prosecutors would pull out all the stops to put away the speed demon who turned her own car into a death trap for the most innocent of victims..
