Teen pleads guilty in triple fatal crash in Amherst

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A 19-year-old has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a crash on Millersport Highway in Amherst that killed three people in 2023, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Officials said Jayla Mueller, of Colden, was driving at a high rate of speed on the Audubon Parkway on the evening of Feb. 20, 2023 when she lost control of the vehicle on a ramp onto Millersport Highway.

Three passengers, 18-year-old Azathiel Pabon, 19-year-old Isabella French and 20-year-old Dakota Eldrige, were all ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. Mueller and a fourth passenger, a 17-year-old male, were treated at ECMC for injuries.

Mueller pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of reckless driving.

A judge in the case committed to sentencing Mueller on youthful offender status on the conditions that she remains arrest-free, complies with the pre-sentence investigation and appears in court for the sentencing.

If sentenced as a youthful offender on July 8, she faces a maximum of 1 1/3 to four years in prison. If she does not meet the conditions, she faces five to 15 years in prison.

She remains released under supervision after prosecutors requested she be held pending sentencing.