Mother who killed a student in a drunk driving accident in Las Vegas has to go to prison

Clark County District Court Judge Jessica Peterson sentenced Taylor Madison to 5 to 12.5 years in prison. Madison was driving south on US 95 toward Searchlight on September 26, 2022, when she collided head-on with the car of 18-year-old Katarina “Kat” Johnson. (KLAS)

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An impaired driver who killed a UNLV student in a wrong-way crash must serve a minimum of five years in prison, a Las Vegas judge ruled Monday.

Clark County District Court Judge Jessica Peterson sentenced Taylor Madison to 5 to 12.5 years in prison. Madison was driving south on U.S. 95 toward Searchlight on September 26, 2022, when she collided head-on with the car driven by 18-year-old Katarina “Kat” Johnson.

Johnson, a freshman from Tennessee, was heading north from meeting friends for a bonfire that was eventually canceled.

Earlier this year, Madison agreed to plead guilty to one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol causing death, documents say. As part of the deal, Peterson could have sentenced Madison to between two and 20 years in prison.

“There is no excuse,” Madison, the mother of a four-year-old child, said in court before Peterson sentenced her. “I will always consider myself a monster and the guilt I have as a survivor will stay with me forever.”

Johnson’s family told the court when they last saw her.

“I would have hugged her longer,” said Cassaundra Johnson. “I would have inhaled her scent longer and I would have given her another kiss.”

As 8 News Now investigators first reported last year, the stretch of highway where Johnson died is not monitored 24/7. The crash occurred at 12:33 a.m. on a stretch of road under Nevada State Police jurisdiction, but 8 News Now investigators’ records show Boulder City police arrived first at 12:41 a.m. The city’s fire department arrived at the scene two minutes later at 12:43 a.m. The first police officer arrived at 1:14 a.m. – nearly 45 minutes after impact.

“You’ve given my daughter a life sentence,” Cassaundra Johnson told Madison. “You’ve given my family a life sentence and all of her friends who were there that night a life sentence of grief and sorrow and pain.”

The Johnsons asked Peterson to give Madison the maximum sentence. Peterson said she weighed both the victim and the defendant in making her decision, adding that while Madison chose to consume alcohol and drugs, she had no intention of killing anyone.

“I don’t want to watch another person’s life be destroyed,” said Cassaundra Johnson.

Madison said in court that she wanted to act as a spokesperson for people who do not believe that a similar crime could happen to them.

Last year, a judge in Boulder City heard arguments from prosecutors who claimed Madison had tampered with her alcohol-control bracelet. The judge concluded that Madison’s sock may have been to blame.