TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Up to 30 years in a psychiatric hospital. That’s the future for a woman who pleaded guilty except insane to killing five people from the same family. Investigators say Malyn Pavolka had been driving up to 80 miles per hour when she caused a fiery wreck.
Family members hoped for a stronger punishment.
Malyn Pavolka said she was off her medication as she drove erratically up to 80 miles per hour until she hit a car with five elderly members of the same family. But her plea of Guilty Except Insane means confinement in a hospital, not a prison.
Before Judge Danielle Constant ruled family members told her of a grief so deep they cry alone at night so their children don’t see.
Stephanie Padilla says the fatal fire and impact that took so much love changed her family forever.
“Our smiles are forced. Our laughter is faked. I miss them all for their very own reasons and I miss them all at once. When the sorrow hits, no sound comes out of me. I can’t breathe.”
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Family members are angry Pavolka was allowed to plead Guilty Except Insane instead of facing heavier charges that would have meant long years in prison.
The law called for a six year commitment in mental hospital for each death. The family asked Judge Constant to stack the commitments for a total of thirty years confinement—and that is what the judge ordered.
Court rules prevent us from showing Malyn Pavolka. She said she wished she had died that day instead of the family.
Rules for Guilty Except Insane call for regular psychiatric appraisals and review hearings. If Pavolka is deemed well enough, she could be released under psychiatric supervision, or sent to prison if she’s regarded as dangerous.
Carmen Martinez Melendez says, “We plan to attend every hearing and we also plan to continue putting up a fight. We’re not going to let it go just like that.”
