H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°University of Wisconsin student Cara Erickson, 22, was arrested early Friday when Madison police officers discovered she had been drinking alcohol, a violation of her probation for killing 17-year-old Jason Skaanning while driving drunk.
Erickson killed Skaanning of Sun Prairie Aug. 27, 2000. Since her charge of Homicide by Intoxicated Use of Vehicle in 2001, she has violated her probation three known times, according to Stephanie Hove, the assistant regional chief of the state Division of Community Corrections.
Hove said Erickson was discovered by Madison police officers when they pulled over a car and recognized Erickson as the passenger.
“At this point, we have conducted investigations of her violation,” Hove said. “Based on what we have, we believe she has violated [her probation]. Her term of supervision is revoked.”
Erickson will appear before a court and could face up to 40 years in prison for a Class B felony, according to Hove. Her original sentence, nine months of jail time and probation with a number of conditions, is very rare. A Homicide by Intoxicated Use of Vehicle usually leads to a long prison sentence, Hove added.
Dennis Skaanning, the father of Jason, said Erickson’s initial sentence of one year in jail with work release privileges was “extremely lenient.”
“This is the third time since she was sentenced for killing my son — the third time that she has been caught — that she has chosen to break the terms of her probation and I wonder how many second chances she gets,” Dennis Skaanning said. “I don’t feel like the justice system is delivering any justice.”
Erickson’s sentence was an “inconvenience,” not a punishment, he added.
The crash occurred at 5:37 a.m. while Jason Skaaning was delivering Sunday morning papers. Erickson had consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana while at a party, Dennis Skaanning said. She had already been home once but then decided to drive her boyfriend, who lived approximately three-quarters of a mile away, to his house, he said.
According to Dennis Skaanning, Erickson passed out while driving back and slammed into the back of his son’s car while driving 58 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone. The car was pushed into a ditch, turned on its side and eventually exploded, he said.
Dennis Skaanning said many people comment on Erickson’s future, saying, “let her go on with her life.”
“That’s a great comment,” Skaanning said. “My request would be bring my son back and let him go on with his life. He made no choices that were bad that night.”
An annual blood drive is held in Jason Skaanning’s honor on his birthday.
“We’re trying to do something good out of a terribly negative situation and it also serves as a reminder,” Dennis Skaanning said.
IP hash: d902eefb
I guess the guy who comes up with descriptive headlines must be on vacation…
IP hash: aa3e2f57
Erickson is an idiot. Does she even understand the kind of fire she is dealing with? If that probation gets revoked, she is going to federal-pound-me-in-the-@$$ prison for a long time.
She gets chance after chance after chance. Two violations of parole and admission to the UW… while she’s a FELON. What a sad, sad waste.
IP hash: 1797ce17
Wow, this is what you get with liberal judges. She must be a cute girl or something for her to get away with this. Can you imagine if a male 17yr old high school dropout killed someone while driving drunk and high, and only got probation which he constantly violated doing the same things that he did to kill someone? No, she was probably some popular, intelligent girl who made a one-time “poor choice.” Well, apparently not.
I feel so sorry for the victim’s family.
IP hash: 1797ce17
Lock her drunk-ass up!
IP hash: 1797ce17
No shit, what the hell kinda headline is that? Trying to bury this story?
IP hash: ada3c268
She has been given chance after chance after chance, and obviously she could give a flying f$ck less what she did or who she hurt. She finally needs to face the consequences of what she did and justice must be served!
IP hash: ada3c268
The initial consequences to what she did are outrageous! She must have a strong political pull or economic clout within her family to be able to pull off a penalty as lenient as that. I am shocked that she has gotten away with murder for this long. I can’t imagine too many people would get so many chances under the same circumstances! And obviously she could care less about what she’s done—turning around and spitting right in the face of the justice system and victims families by not even taking her penalities (as light as they are) seriously. What a b%tch!
IP hash: ada3c268
If a drunk driver ever ran over my son or daughter in such a manner as that, the penalities received wouldn’t matter because I would run him or her over.
IP hash: ada3c268
Take away her life the same way she took away her victim’s! Enough with this damn leniancy!
IP hash: 1dbff00a
I am Jason’s sister. It was nice to read through the comments on here and see some support. It seems as much support as we have, nothing is ever done. She is going to kill someone else if nothing is done. That is my biggest worry, I would never want another family to ever have to go through what we have had to. (especially knowing that she shouldn’t even have the opportunity to be on the roads) She has no remose, seems to think she’s done nothing wrong. These should be red flags to the judge that she hasnen’t learned her lesson. Drunk driving is taken way to lightly in our system. It’s almost as if you have to kill someone to see any punishment, and even then, its simply going to be an inconvience, not life changing. This is just one more slap in the face, sending me the message that Jason’s life meant nothing to her…I wish she could see me on the days when all I can feel are the parts of me that died when he did.