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Drunk Florida Woman Texts About, Then Causes Fatal Car Crash

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on May 05, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

"Driving drunk woo ... I'll be dead thanks to you," is what a Florida woman texted her former boyfriend, moments before she drove through a red light and into an oncoming pickup truck. Mila Dago escaped the crash with bruises, but her friend and passenger Irina Reinoso was killed.

According to reports, Dago had been out in Miami drinking to deal with the end of her relationship, and texted her ex some 60 times before the fatal accident. She now faces DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges as well as two counts of DUI with damage to a person.

Distracted Driving

Just texting while driving could've landed Dago in jail. States have specific texting and driving laws, and Florida has an entire section entitled the "Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law." While texting may seem innocent enough, there have been multiple cases of texting drivers causing fatal car crashes.

Deadly DUI

The DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges constitute involuntary manslaughter, which is where:

  1. The defendant's act resulted in someone else's death;
  2. The defendant's act was either inherently dangerous to others or done with reckless disregard for human life; and
  3. The defendant knew or should have known that his or her act was a threat to the lives of others.

The first two elements are plain enough: Reinoso died in the accident and driving while drunk is inherently dangerous. Prosecutors will probably use Dago's text to prove that, by linking drunk driving and death, Dago knew that her actions threatened the lives of others.

Lengthy Lockup

Dago faces some serious jail time. Just yesterday, another Florida woman was sentenced to 24 years in prison for tweeting "2 Drunk 2 Care" moments before causing a head-on collision that killed two people. Under Florida's DUI and manslaughter laws, Dago could be in prison for up to 40 years. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and her trial date has yet to be set.

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