Mahlon “Stick” Simmons II and his son, Mahlon “MJ” Simmons III, were special human beings, Robyn Catlin said on Friday inside a packed Baltimore County courtroom.

They were cornerstones of the community, gentle and loving men with big hearts who saw the best in other people, Catlin said. And they strived to provide a positive example and serve as mentors to others.

“They meant so much, to so many,” Catlin said. “The world is a little less bright without these two in it.”

They were among six highway workers who died on March 22, 2023, after Lisa Lea crashed into another car on Interstate 695 in Baltimore County when she tried to merge into the passing lane while driving more than twice the speed limit.

Lea spun out, traveled through a space in the concrete barriers that separated the work zone from the rest of the highway and flipped over multiple times. Her 2017 Acura TLX came to rest on its roof.

Rolando Ruiz, 46, of Laurel; Carlos Villatoro Escobar, 43, of Frederick; Jose Escobar, 52, of Frederick; and Sybil DiMaggio, 46, of Glen Burnie, were also killed in the crash, which was among the deadliest to happen in a work zone in the United States in decades.

Stating that tragic and catastrophic did not even begin to describe what happened, Circuit Judge Dennis M. Robinson Jr. later sentenced Lea, 57, of Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, to 30 years in prison.

Robinson spoke at length about his reasons for the sentence.

Lea made exceedingly poor choices and needed to be punished: her actions, he said, destroyed families and communities. At the same time, Robinson said, he did not believe she was bad person.

If he could hand down a sentence of 1 million years in prison and bring back those who were killed in the crash, Robinson said, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

“But tragically,” Robinson said, “we know that’s not possible.”

Lea will receive credit for the more than two years she’s spent on home detention awaiting the resolution of her case. She will be eligible for parole after serving a quarter of her sentence for six counts of negligent vehicular manslaughter.

Assistant State’s Attorney Felise Kelly took issue with how Lea had characterized the crash as an accident and minimized her prior criminal record.

“First and foremost, this was not an accident,” Kelly said. “An accident suggests that this was completely unavoidable.”

Lea, she said, previously experienced a seizure and wrecked her vehicle. She took a number of prescription medications and used cannabis before the crash. And she had been weaving in and out of traffic, at one point hitting 140 mph.

Kelly and Assistant State’s Attorney Aleisha Vines recommended a sentence of 60 years in prison, with 36 years suspended, and three years’ supervised probation.

The other driver, Melachi Brown, was speeding but did not crash into another car, Kelly said.

Brown, 22, of Windsor Mill, pleaded guilty to six counts of negligent vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 60 years in prison, with 58 1/2 years suspended, and three years’ supervised probation.

Assistant Public Defender Rukaayat Balogun, one of Lea’s attorneys, argued her client did not set out to harm anyone and pushed back on the insinuation that she had been impaired.

Toxicology testing revealed that the only substance in her system was THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. But the Maryland State Police determined that was not a factor in the crash, Balogun said.

Lea, she said, is a “medically vulnerable individual” who was diagnosed in 2011 with a seizure disorder as well as a genetic disease that causes pain, swelling and blood clots.

When she woke up that day, Lea was not feeling well. She went to run errands. But she later felt she needed to seek medical attention, Balogun said.

“All she wanted to do was get to urgent care,” Balogun said.

She described her client as a good person who tries to follow the rules. Lea is remorseful for her actions but has endured so much trauma that she cannot cope, Balogun said.

Balogun and Assistant Public Defender Amy Stone requested a sentence of 30 years in prison, with 18 years suspended.

“She puts everybody before herself,” said Lolita Russell, Lea’s best friend who’s known her for more than 50 years. “She gives all of herself.”

When Lea was given the opportunity to address the court, she turned around and repeatedly apologized to the family members and friends of the six highway workers who died in the crash.

She said she will also carry pain for the rest of her life but added that she was not trying to seek sympathy.

“I take responsibility,” Lea said. “To the families, I’m profoundly sorry.”

In a statement, Baltimore County District Public Defender James Dills said Lea accepting responsibility reflects who she truly is as a person.

Dills then quoted Bryan Stevenson, the civil rights attorney who founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama: “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”