A lawsuit has been filed against Jayana Webb, left inset, sentenced in the deaths of Pennsylvania State Police troopers Martin Mack III, right inset, and Branden Sisca, second from right inset, and Reyes Rivera Oliveras, second inset from left, a pedestrian the troopers were helping, in March 2022. (Webb and crime scene screenshots via Philadelphia CBS affiliate KYW-TV/YouTube; Trooper’s photos from Pennsylvania State Police)
A lawsuit has been filed in connection with the death of two Pennsylvania State Troopers and a pedestrian killed by an extremely drunken driver who was posting to social media when she slammed into them as the troopers were responding to the pedestrian walking on a Philadelphia interstate.
The lawsuit names Jayana Webb, 23, who in November was sentenced to 27 ½ to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty in the March 2022 crash that killed Troopers Martin Mack III, 33, and Branden Sisca, 29, and Reyes Rivera Oliveras, 28, the pedestrian the troopers were helping.
“My daughter will never get the chance to even know who her dad was,” said Brittany Sisca, Branden Sisca’s wife, who was six months pregnant at the time of the crash. “He never held her. He never saw her. That’s a whole other demon down the road that I have to handle.”
Sisca’s lawyer, Jordan L. Howell, told Law&Crime in an email she looks forward to her day in court.
“We will seek all remedies available under the law to hold accountable those responsible for this preventable tragedy,” he said. “So far the focus has understandably been on Jayana Webb. However, we plan to bring to light the egregious violations of the illegal speakeasy that served Jayana Webb with numerous drinks until she was nearly three times over the legal limit to drive.”
The lawsuit alleges that employees at a now-closed hookah lounge did not have a liquor license but had illegally served alcohol and marijuana to patrons that night, including Webb.
In addition to Webb, the lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, names her mother, who owned the car Webb was in at the time of the crash, and the bar. The lawsuit also has unnamed people who texted with her during the crash. It seeks more than $50,000.
The crash happened on March 21, 2022, after Webb was illegally served alcohol, marijuana, and hookah at the speakeasy in Philadelphia. She was “beyond the point of visible intoxication.” Club employees allegedly failed to try to offer or provide her the opportunity to become sober before leaving the establishment.
After leaving the lounge, Webb began recklessly speeding down I-95 in a tan 2014 Chevrolet Captiva, court documents said.
At about 12:38 a.m., troopers Sisca and Mack clocked her, swerving and traveling at 113 mph, more than double the posted speed limit, and initiated a traffic stop.
As they began the traffic stop, dispatch notified them of a nearby emergency involving a pedestrian walking on I-95 South. Due to the nature of the call, the troopers terminated the traffic stop — giving Webb a warning — and responded to the pedestrian walking on the freeway.
Seconds later, Webb continued driving and struck the troopers as they helped the pedestrian into the back seat of their police vehicle. Webb tried to pass the scene by using the shoulder of the road.
Webb had been tweeting when she crashed, reacting to being pulled over, Webb first tweeted “Why the cop pull me & he say im doing 110 ina 50 (followed by four (4) crying face emojis).”
At the moment of impact, Webb was driving 78 mph, in a 55 mph zone, while posting a tweet that stated: “Nbs iont wanna get pulled unless tesh1 wit me (followed by a crying face emoji and then a smiley face emoji).”
The impact sent Sisca, Mack, and the pedestrian over the center concrete barrier, where they slammed into the asphalt, tumbled down I-95 North and were killed.
Sisca suffered an open fracture to his right leg, complex fractures to his skull, facial fractures, rib fractures, elbow/arm fractures, transections of the spinal cord, organ damage, pelvic fractures, and open lacerations, among other injuries. His cause of death was “multiple blunt impact injuries.”
Webb’s blood alcohol content was .211%, nearly three times the legal limit. She also tested positive for marijuana at a level indicative of intoxication.
Webb’s Instagram account revealed videos and photos taken hours before the collision at the lounge showing alcoholic beverages being served.
She reportedly told the police she’d been drinking “strawberry Henny” — or Hennessy Cognac — before the crash.
Webb pleaded guilty in November to a series of criminal charges, including three counts of third-degree murder and three counts of homicide by vehicle while DUI.
“Punitive damages are warranted based on defendant Webb’s reckless, evil, wanton, and extremely outrageous conduct,” the lawsuit said.
In the months before the crash, Webb used social media to publicly post regarding her regular and repeated habits of driving under the influence and reckless driving habits. The lawsuit included a list of her typo-laden social media posts from different dates in January and February 2022:
“If you ask me, I’m the best drunken driver ever (followed by three crying face emojis).”
“I’m tryna get drunk again tonight.”
“All gas no breaks this year. I’m excited.”
“That liquor kicked by ass yesterday.”
“I’m still drunk this is sad.”
“I love drunk me.”
“omfg by drunk Snapchat memories are hilarious.”
“Why do the liquor stores close so early.”
“The liquor starting to taste like juice …”
“Not me getting in at 8 a.m. drunk.”
“Always drunk”
As Law&Crime reported, Webb’s defense attorney, Michael Walker, told WCAU and ABC affiliate WPVI at the time that it should not have been charged as a murder case, calling it an accident. He characterized Webb as a good person with a drinking problem.
Stephanie Mack remembered her husband and father to their two children fondly at his funeral Mass, where thousands of mourners lined St. Michael the Archangel in Tullytown.
“He was my best friend,” she said, the Bucks County Courier Times reported. “He was my husband. He was the father to my two children. Most importantly, he was my heart.”
Oliveras and his family moved to the U.S. about a decade earlier for a better life. His sister, Aida Sierra, said he had been dropped off at the Philadelphia International Airport for a flight to his native Puerto Rico but didn’t know why he was walking on the highway at that late hour, WCAU reported.
“He was always happy,” she said. “He didn’t have any problems with anyone. He always had a smile on his face, and that’s how we want to remember him.”
