North Little Rock woman sentenced to probation following 2022 wreck that killed her son | The Arkansas Democratic Gazette

A 45-year-old North Little Rock woman and mother of five who killed her 22-year-old son in a drunken driving crash – three months after killing her 16-year-old son – was sentenced to six years in prison. probation.

Freda Lamaria Slater survived the July 19, 2022 crash that killed Donte' Lamar Peterson. According to police reports, Slater was driving a red Chevrolet Tahoe with Peterson in the front seat when she struck a large utility pole in the 4000 block of East Broadway Street/US 70 in North Little Rock.

The crash forced part of the engine compartment into the passenger compartment of the sport utility vehicle. Firefighters had to free the son and mother, who were also seriously injured, from the rubble. Peterson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police found a small amount of marijuana on the driver's floorboard next to the center console, and more marijuana and a gun were found among his belongings.

Police found Slater's 14-year-old daughter at the scene, screaming that she had warned her mother not to drive that night and offered to drive instead. The girl and Slater's two other daughters were in another vehicle that was following Slater and witnessed the accident.

In an interview with police about a month after the accident, Slater told investigators that she and her four children were at the Professor Bowl bowling alley in Little Rock where she had been drinking. The group left in two cars, with her and Peterson in the SUV. Slater said she had consumed alcohol before the trip and drank more at the bowling alley.

She said the family spent about two and a half hours bowling and that she and Peterson stopped at a memorial site for her murdered son, telling investigators she smoked marijuana there. Slater said his last memory before waking up in the hospital was leaving the memorial under the freeway overpass at North Locust and Bishop Lindsey streets.

Police obtained an arrest warrant in November 2022 after receiving the results of his blood tests, which were not released. Slater was charged with negligent homicide, a class B felony, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Court records show Slater pleaded guilty to the charges in April, with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Cathi Compton sentencing her to probation Monday. Slater, who had never been in trouble with the law before, faced up to 20 years in prison.

The judge conditioned her probation on Slater receiving counseling and treatment for alcoholism, with the condition that she obtain a medical marijuana card from her doctor if she continues to use the drug. The judge also restricted Slater to only driving vehicles equipped with an alcohol-based ignition interlock device.

Slater's son, Keyvon Antowne White, 16, and his cousin, Samartra Doyne, 16, of North Little Rock, were killed when the driver of the car they were in fled the scene. North Little Rock police and crashed into another. car.

The driver, Mason Lloyd Shaw of Little Rock, then 20, later pleaded guilty in March to first-degree battery and two counts of second-degree murder in exchange for a 40-year sentence. prison.

Court records and police reports show officers were searching for the trio the day of the crash after receiving a tip that they were driving around North Little Rock “with the intent of engaging in criminal activity.”

They were described by police as “known for possessing firearms and participating in drive-by shootings,” with White nicknamed “Man Man” and Doyne known as “Buck.” Police also knew Shaw was driving a maroon Camry with illegally tinted windows.