The four friends were driving through Columbia early in the morning in August 2007 when the Jeep they were riding in crashed into a cement wall.

One young woman, a back seat passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other women, also passengers in the vehicle, suffered multiple serious injuries, including brain damage.

The fourth person, Kristi L. Fulmer, who was the driver, pleaded guilty this morning in Lancaster County Court to homicide by vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault — all while driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Fulmer, 24, of 216 N. Third St., Columbia, told President Judge Louis J. Farina that she remembers nothing about the accident but admitted that she was driving the night it happened.

Farina ordered a background investigation before he imposes a sentence that will include a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in state prison.

As the guilty plea was presented in court this morning, Fulmer said little other than to answer the judge's questions. But her eyes filled with tears as the prosecutor mentioned her friend, Ashley Victoria Jean Wolpert, 21, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other two passengers were Amanda Lewis, 21 at the time of the crash, who prosecutors said suffered mild brain damage, and Lindsey Studenroth, 22, who sustained more severe, permanent brain damage, Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown told the judge. Both are still recovering from their injuries.

At the time of the crash, police described the four women, all from Columbia, as longtime friends.

The accident happened shortly before 2 a.m. on Aug. 11, 2007, Brown told the judge.

Witnesses told police they saw the Fulmer's blue Jeep sport utility vehicle, traveling at about 60 mph, which is twice the posted speed limit, and illegally passing vehicles as it traveled west on Route 462, Brown said.

As Fulmer's vehicle approached South Ninth Street, Brown said, the Jeep hit a metal guardrail and several road signs, left the roadway and crashed into a cement retaining wall.

All four people inside the vehicle had to be extricated by fire and ambulance company rescuers before they were taken to Lancaster General Hospital.

Fulmer, who also was injured in the accident, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, which is twice the legal limit in Pennsylvania.

"Is that true?" Farina asked the young woman standing before him.

"I don't remember anything from that day or the day before," Fulmer replied.

Defense attorney Christopher Patterson said he would save his comments until the time of sentencing but did mention that his client has been taking medication for depression and anxiety since the accident.

In addition to pleading guilty to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of intoxicants and to two counts of aggravated assault while driving under the influence of intoxicants, Fulmer pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle, drunken driving, reckless driving and a traffic violation.

According to her obituary, Wolpert was a 2005 graduate of Lancaster County Academy and was enrolled in the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center's practical nursing program.

Besides her parents and four siblings, Wolpert was survived by a daughter, Alexandria.


Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.