Baltimore woman sentenced to 30 years for crash that killed 6 road workers

Matthew Schumer | The Baltimore Sun | January 30, 2026 | Original Source

Photo Credit: Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun

A Baltimore woman was sentenced Friday to 30 years’ incarceration for her role in a collision that killed six highway workers in 2023, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger confirmed Friday afternoon.

Lisa Lea pleaded guilty in November 2025 after being indicted on over 20 charges, including negligent manslaughter and reckless driving, stemming from a fatal 2023 crash on Interstate 695.

The victims included Concrete General employees Rolando Ruiz, brothers Carlos Orlando Villatoro Escobar and Jose Armando Escobar, foreman Mahlon Simmons II and his son, Mahlon Simmons III, and KCI Technologies inspector Sybil Lee DiMaggio.

Shellenberger said prosecutors initially requested a 24-year sentence for Lea, but the judge ultimately handed down a sentence six years longer, though it accounted for the time Lea had already served.

He said that the judge was likely moved by the statements made by multiple family members of the crash victims during the trial in October.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that Lea and another driver, Melachi Brown, were responsible for the crash, having been speeding excessively and changing lanes unsafely. Investigators also found that the drivers were traveling at speeds higher than 120 mph before the crash and that Lea had tested positive for THC, a psychoactive chemical found in marijuana.

Brown pleaded guilty to multiple counts of felony manslaughter in 2024 and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He served part of his sentence in home confinement.