Connecticut Judge Spares Private School Student Jail Time for Fatal DUI Crash
A 20-year-old who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault, and reckless driving avoided jail after her defense highlighted her mental health struggles and financial ruin.
Anngelina Morton, 20, was spared jail time on Thursday after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter, assault, and reckless driving for a 2023 crash that killed a motorcyclist.
Morton was sentenced at Hartford Superior Court after a judge heard about her struggles with anorexia, bulimia, and suicidal thoughts. Her defense also emphasized the financial strain on her family, stating that her mother, an executive at UnitedHealth, has been financially ruined.
Morton was driving her mother's Mercedes when she struck Justin Gittings, 30, in August 2023. Gittings was riding his motorcycle in Farmington, Connecticut. Doctors amputated one of his legs at the scene in an attempt to save his life, but he succumbed to his injuries four weeks later.
Morton, who was about to begin her senior year at the $53,000-a-year Ethel Walker school at the time of her arrest in summer 2024, had been a student at Arizona State University. Her offer to study at Auburn University in Alabama was rescinded following Gittings' death.
Gittings' mother, Beth Politis, was reportedly distraught and fled the courtroom in tears upon realizing Morton would not serve jail time.
Morton's legal team stated that she was "hanging by a string" and that her mental health issues and financial difficulties were significant factors in the case. Her family resided in a $940,000 home in Farmington, Connecticut.