by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers

"Mandieî was sprawled across the hood of a black sedan, her formal gown soaked in blood. "Brianî lay motionless on the pavement.

Juniors and seniors at Burnsville High School hushed as Police Chief Bob Hawkins spoke into a microphone.

"Unfortunately, there has been an accident at the intersection of Highway 13 and County Road 11,î he said somberly. "It is a very serious accident.î

In a tradition repeated every two years, the students kicked off their prom week Monday morning by viewing a gruesome re-enactment of a fatal car crash caused by a drunken promgoer. Burnsville's prom is today (Saturday, May 7).

Student actors, dummies and Burnsville police and firefighters created the scene in a school parking lot surrounded by students seated in bleachers.

Two squad cars, three fire trucks and an ambulance blared onto the scene, where a black car and a white car were crushed and wrinkled.

As paramedics sorted through the carnage, a cop pulled aside "Tim,î the driver at fault. His prom date and a youth from the vehicle he plowed into lay dead, both thrown from their cars, as Tim failed field sobriety tests. Each of two counts of vehicular homicide carries up to 10 years in prison.

In case students weren't scared straight by the re-enactment, a young woman named Amy Henry took the microphone.

At Washburn High School she was a cheerleader, National Merit scholar and member of SADD. At the University of Minnesota-Duluth Henry was a social animal, attending up to five parties a week, she said.

After graduation she got a job, a Bloomington apartment and a 1997 Chevrolet Sebring. On St. Patrick's Day of 2000, Henry's sister called and invited her out to the bars.

They met at 6 p.m. at a friend's place just off Burnsville Parkway in Burnsville, Henry told students.

Their party of five hit the town, returning about five hours later. From Burnsville it was a short drive to the 98th Street exit and home, said Henry, who left at about 11:45 p.m.

The next time she saw a clock it was in her pitch-black car. The time was 1:30 a.m.

Henry found herself pinned back by an inflated airbag. Her windshield was shattered. The roof of her car was gone. Henry unfastened her seat belt. The door wouldn't open.

"That's when I started screaming,î she said.

Next came flashing lights and people rushing to help her. Have you been drinking? Henry was asked.

"Yes,î she said.

She was covered in glass, and her knees were bruised and swollen. At the hospital, Henry was wheeled into a room and hooked up to an IV. She was in Northfield, not Bloomington.

Still clueless about the last two hours, Henry asked a nurse what had happened.

"She said, ëYeah, you were in a head-on collision and you killed somebody,' î Henry said. "Then she turned around and left the room.î

She called her mother to the hospital. They left through a back hallway to avoid passing the victim's family, said Henry, who spent the weekend in jail.

"I felt like somehow my mom could make it all better, still,î Henry said.

Bail was posted on Monday, and Henry went to live with her parents. She was charged with vehicular homicide and DUI. In a plea agreement, she was sentenced to two years in prison, 11 years of probation and 400 hours of community service.

"The boyfriend I was rushing home to that night broke up 20 days after the accident because he said it was too hard,î Henry said.

Over the next three years Henry served her time in staggered terms at the Hennepin County workhouse. Her driving privileges return in December.

"And I am now a convicted felon,î Henry said.

Instead of heading north from Burnsville that night Henry took a wrong turn and continued south past Faribault on I-35, she said. Somehow -- maybe a U-turn -- she ended up heading north in a southbound lane.

Henry showed photos of a couple, Rhonda and Juan, and their daughter, Justine, who was born six months after Juan died in the accident Henry caused.

"Justine is 4 and a half now, and I think about her every day,î Henry said.

"How do you explain to a little kid some girl got drunk and killed her dad?î she said.

Hawkins reminded students that Monday was sentencing day for a man who killed three young brothers in an accident near Farmington last October. Boe Barlage, 23, who had a history of alcohol-related offenses, was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Dakota County judge.

Jon Cummings of Minnesotans for Safe Driving told students about his son, Phillip, who was killed at 23 by a drunk driver.

"He ended up getting five years in Stillwater,î Cummings said. "Ain't enough, is it?î

John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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