Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Georgia woman was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for driving while high on marijuana and crashing into another vehicle in April 2024, killing the driver of the vehicle.
Rachel Lodice, 22, pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025, before Judge Tammy Robbins to Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a D felony); Leaving the Scene of a Fatality without Reporting (a D felony); Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a D felony); Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); and Assault in the Third Degree (a class A misdemeanor).
The defendant was sentenced today to 3-1/3 to 10 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison.
“Cynthia Mitchell and her friend were on their way to Hobby Lobby. Their light turned green on Sunrise Highway, and as each of us do every day on the streets of Nassau County, Cynthia trusted she was clear to drive. But Rachel Lodice didn’t stop at her red light. Instead, high on marijuana, this defendant careened straight into Cynthia vehicle, instantly taking the woman’s life,” said DA Donnelly. “Cynthia died because of Rachel Lodice’s recklessness. It was this defendant and her actions that robbed this world of a loving mother and respected member of the community. My office will continue to pursue justice and maximum accountability in every vehicular case where a defendant’s criminal choices end in tragedy.”
DA Donnelly said that on April 23, 2024, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the defendant got into her 2023 Kia Rio at a Target store in Hicksville and began driving south on Newbridge Road.
The defendant pulled into a Walgreens parking lot a short time later at the corner of Old Country Road and Hicksville Road where she stopped momentarily.
The defendant then pulled onto Hicksville Road and began driving erratically at a high rate of speed. The defendant drove more than six miles southbound on Hicksville Road, and at times, did so on the wrong side of the double yellow line, over raised medians, and through several red traffic lights.
At approximately 6:45 p.m., the defendant ran a red light at the intersection of Hicksville Road and Sunrise Highway while impaired by marijuana and t-boned a 2022 Nissan Altima driven by 64-year-old Cynthia Mitchell and carrying another passenger.
Mitchell suffered extensive injuries and was transported to Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) where she was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival.
Mitchell’s passenger suffered several broken ribs and a lacerated spleen and was also transported to NUMC, where she was treated and released.
According to the event data recorder from Lodice’s vehicle, the defendant was driving approximately 76 miles per hour five seconds before the crash. The speed limit at that section of roadway is 35 miles per hour.
Mitchell and her friend were on their way to a Hobby Lobby store in Massapequa to go shopping at the time of the crash.
A Town of Oyster Bay Public Safety Officer traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway saw the collision and stopped to assist and block off traffic.
The officer assisted the defendant, asked her to stay in the area, and proceeded to the victim’s vehicle.
The defendant then stole the public safety officer’s vehicle and drove the car eastbound on Sunrise Highway, away from the crash site.
Lodice fled for several miles before stopping on Neptune Avenue, a dead-end road in Seaford. The Town of Oyster Bay public safety vehicle was equipped with GPS tracking technology and a remote “kill” switch to disengage the engine when the vehicle is stationary.
The vehicle was disabled, and the defendant was taken into custody by officers of the Nassau County Police Department’s Bureau of Special Operations.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Alexander DePalo of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Jenna Spelke, Esq.