DARLINGTON — The SUV driver in a hit-and-run crash on a horse-drawn buggy near Darlington was sentenced Oct. 26 after pleading guilty.

Jennifer Lynn McKee, 34, Warren, is ordered to serve two months in jail and one year on probation for the misdemeanor conviction of causing injury while operating under the influence. She was initially charged with a similar felony offense related to the crash, but it was downgraded to the misdemeanor.

She is also ordered to pay $7,808 to the driver of the buggy. Her jail sentence is scheduled to begin Dec. 26, with Huber work-release privileges. Her license is revoked two years.

According to the criminal complaint, filed in Lafayette County Circuit Court:

Deputies responded shortly before 3 a.m. Sept. 15, 2019 to the scene of a hit-and-run crash in the 17400 block of Wisconsin 81, Town of Darlington.

The impact had thrown the buggy into the ditch, killing the horse, injuring the buggy driver and severely damaging the buggy.

The buggy driver, Joseph S. King, then 20 years old, had a “distinct limp” and blood on his face. He was later treated for a crushing injury to his lower leg, several broken ribs, a broken collar bone and fractured back.

McKee’s identity as the driver of the GMC Arcadia that hit the buggy was discovered after deputies followed up on a tip from an anonymous caller the next day.

McKee, a nurse who worked calls for the Warren Area Ambulance Service, told police she had gone on a call earlier the previous day, then attended a wedding reception. After that, she had a beer at a relative’s house before drinking more at a street party.

She told police she was driving 40-45 mph because heavy rain was making it hard to see and she was unfamiliar with the road. Also, one of her contact lens was “super dry” and felt like it was suctioning to her eyelid.

She said she had her head down and was rubbing her eye when she hit something. She didn’t see taillights or other lights and assumed she had hit a deer, guard rail or piece of cement wall.

She was “really scared” of being arrested and potentially getting ticketed for drunk driving, so she kept driving, even though her airbags had deployed. The GMC Arcadia succumbed to its damages and stalled at the edge of Warren. She got help hiding the vehicle, later explaining to police that she was an “emotional wreck.”

The GMC Arcadia was found at an autobody shop in Nora, Illinois.

— Kat Cisar