Rousso Enters Partial Guilty Plea

Carly Rousso pleaded guilty to one of the charges against her just before her trial began Tuesday morning, according to an article in the Daily Herald. She still faces charges that she was driving under the influence of an intoxicant when she drove over and killed a 5-year-old girl two years ago.

Rousso pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and prosecutors agreed to drop a second count, the Herald story says.

She still faces four counts of aggravated DUI, but her lawyer is arguing that because the intoxicant she took, difluoroethane, is not listed in Illinois as a legal intoxicant, she can’t be found guilty on those charges.

Rousso, 19, is accused of driving her car across four lanes of Central Avenue in Highland Park Sept. 3, 2012, striking and killing Jaclyn Santos-Sacramento, 5, as well as injuring other member of the victim’s family. Prosecutors say she had been huffing the cleaning product, causing her to be intoxicated.

You can read the full Daily Herald article here.