Woman gets 27 years in crash that killed Michigan trooper

Ionia — A woman was sentenced to 27 years in prison Tuesday after a 2020 drunken driving crash that killed a Michigan state trooper.

Thomasina Jones pleaded guilty last week in Ionia County Circuit Court to second-degree murder, operating a vehicle with a high blood-alcohol content causing death, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and driving on a suspended, revoked or denied license.

Trooper Caleb Starr, 33, was driving east of Grand Rapids in Boston Township in July 2020 when a vehicle crossed the center line from the opposite direction and smashed into his patrol car, police said.

Jones’ blood-alcohol level was 0.23, about three times over Michigan’s legal limit, another trooper testified during her preliminary hearing in December.

Her vehicle was traveling 100 mph at the time of a crash, according to authorities.

Jones is from the Four Corners region in southern Utah, but she had been staying in Ionia County at the time of the crash.