N. Ind. woman sentenced for sleeping woman’s death

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A woman has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for crashing her car into a South Bend house and killing a 56-year-old woman who was sleeping on her living room couch.

A St. Joseph County judge ordered the sentenced Monday for 24-year-old Erica McCaffery of South Bend in connection with the April crash that killed Barbara Knapp. McCaffery pleaded guilty in September to driving after having smoked marijuana.

Authorities say her car was going about 80 mph in a 30 mph zone when it smashed into the house around 1:30 a.m.

McCaffery told the judge she was sorry and never meant to hurt anyone. Matt Szymanski told WSBT-TV and WNDU-TV that McCaffery had never apologized for killing his mother while she was inside her own home.