A Woman Carrying Whiskey in Her Purse Causes Accident, Injuring Passenger

A Wisconsin motorist is facing prison time for a fatal drunk driving incident that ejected her passenger 30 feet from the vehicle, landing him in a ditch with a “split open head, exposing his brain,” as detailed in court records.

Kristi Lichtenwalner, 38, from Racine County, received a 10-year prison sentence on Monday due to the rollover accident in 2022 that claimed the life of a 37-year-old Kenosha resident, as stated in her criminal complaint accessed by Law&Crime. She pleaded guilty in August to homicide by the intoxicated use of a vehicle.

The victim, whose name has not been released, owned the red Cadillac SUV that Lichtenwalner was driving that evening. Her blood alcohol content was recorded at 0.245 by law enforcement, which is over three times the legal limit. An “opened bottle of Old Smoky Tennessee Whiskey” was discovered in a purse near the driver’s seat and was subsequently associated with Lichtenwalner, as per the complaint.

“Upon arrival, deputies observed … an unresponsive male laying on his stomach approximately 30 feet east of the vehicle in the southern grass ditch of Durand Ave,” the complaint details. “The male’s head was visibly split open, revealing his brain, and nearby there was exposed brain matter on the gravel.”

Near the vehicle, officers found two women “sitting on the ground,” one of whom, identified as Lichtenwalner, “appeared to be in significant distress, crying and screaming,” as reported by police.

“She was not able to formulate words,” the complaint says. “While [a deputy] was attempting to talk with Kristi, he could smell the odor of intoxicants coming from her breath.”

Lichtenwalner had “scrapes all over her face, and a large scratch on the right side of her nose with skin peeling off,” per cops. She was treated and “secured” by deputies at a local medical center inside its emergency room, where she denied being the driver.

“Lichtenwalner said that [the victim] had been driving during the time of the incident,” the complaint states. “She indicated that prior to the incident, Lichtenwalner and [the victim] were at Lichtenwalner’s residence in Union Grove.”

Cops asked Lichtenwalner “numerous times whether she was driving the Cadillac,” and she repeatedly said no. “Lichtenwalner advised she was not wearing her seatbelt during the crash, and that her and [the victim] had been drinking ‘quite a bit,'” the complaint says.

Lichtenwalner’s “speech was slurred” while speaking to police, prompting cops to draw her blood. Data was downloaded from the SUV’s airbag control module, along with other evidence — including a “long strand of hair embedded in a shattered area of the front driver side window” — which helped prove that Lichtenwalner was the driver.

Investigators also found a “blood stain in the center of the airbag,” which was sent in for DNA analysis and “tested positive only to Lichtenwalner,” the complaint says.

“Lichtenwalner had an abrasion to the bridge of her nose after the accident,” the document notes. “This is consistent with injuries commonly associated with being struck by an airbag during a motor vehicle accident.”

A witness told police that they saw Lichtenwalner and the victim depart in the Cadillac that night and that they chose to “switch seats” before driving away, with Lichtenwalner being the driver. Surveillance footage from a local liquor store that they visited and other businesses also showed Lichtenwalner behind the wheel while “en route” to the crash site.

“Deputies concluded this leaves little to no time to allow Lichtenwalner and [the victim] to switch seats a second time,” the complaint says.

After compiling the evidence and completing their investigation, the police attempted to speak with Lichtenwalner in August 2023 about what had happened, and she “responded something to the effect of needing to talk to her attorney,” according to the police.