A Georgia woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter for driving recklessly while high on marijuana and T-boning another at a Massapequa intersection last year, killing the driver and injuring another passenger.
On April 23, 2024, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Rachel Lodice got into her 2023 Kia Rio at a Target store in Hicksville and began driving south on Newbridge Road. She pulled into a Walgreens parking lot a short time later at the corner of Old Country Road and Hicksville Road where she stopped momentarily.
Lodice then pulled onto Hicksville Road and began driving erratically at a high rate of speed. The defendant drove more than six miles southbound on Hicksville Road, and at times, did so on the wrong side of the double yellow line, over raised medians, and through several red traffic lights.
At approximately 6:45 p.m., Lodice ran a red light at the intersection of Hicksville Road and Sunrise Highway while impaired by marijuana and T-boned a 2022 Nissan Altima driven by 64-year-old Cynthia Mitchell and carrying another passenger.
Mitchell suffered extensive injuries and was transported to Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC), where she was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival. Mitchell’s passenger suffered several broken ribs and a lacerated spleen and was also transported to NUMC, where she was treated and released.
According to the event data recorder from Lodice’s vehicle, the defendant was driving approximately 76 miles per hour five seconds before the crash. The speed limit at that section of roadway is 35 miles per hour.
Mitchell and her friend were on their way to a Hobby Lobby store in Massapequa to go shopping at the time of the crash.
A Town of Oyster Bay Public Safety Officer traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway saw the collision and stopped to assist and block off traffic. The officer assisted Lodice, asked her to stay in the area, and proceeded to the victim’s vehicle. She then entered the driver’s side of the public safety officer’s vehicle and drove the car eastbound on Sunrise Highway, away from the crash site.
Lodice fled for several miles before stopping on Neptune Avenue, a dead-end road in Seaford. The Town of Oyster Bay public safety vehicle was equipped with GPS tracking technology and a remote “kill” switch to disengage the engine when the vehicle is stationary.
The vehicle was disabled, and Lodice was taken into custody by officers of the Nassau County Police Department’s Bureau of Special Operations.
Lodice, 22, pleaded guilty on June 2, 2025 before Judge Tammy Robbins to Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a Class D violent felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Leaving the Scene of a Fatality without Reporting and Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (all Class D felonies); Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); and Assault in the Third Degree (a class A misdemeanor).
Lodice is expected to be sentenced to 3-1/3 to 10 years in prison on July 21, 2025. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison.
“As I have unfortunately said far too many times, impaired driving has devastating consequences. This defendant made several disastrous choices endangering multiple drivers on the road as she sped through red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road while high on marijuana,” said Nassau DA Anne Donnelly. “Those reckless decisions led to a tragic outcome when the defendant slammed into Cynthia Mitchell’s vehicle, killing her, and injuring her friend who was also in the car. Today’s guilty plea cannot undo the pain Cynthia’s family will forever endure, but it’s a step toward justice.”