The young woman who tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" just minutes before a deadly head-on collision that killed two on the Sawgrass Expressway was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday. (Published Monday, May 4, 2015) 
 
 The young Florida woman who tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" just minutes before a deadly head-on collision that killed two on the Sawgrass Expressway was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday. 
 
 Kayla Mendoza pleaded guilty in February to two charges of DUI manslaughter in the November 2013 deaths of Kaitlyn Ferrante and her best friend Marisa Catronio, both 21 at the time. 
 
 She had been facing a maximum of 30 years in prison. The 22-year-old will also serve six years of probation after her prison sentence and will have a lifetime driving ban. 
 
 Before she was sentenced, a tearful Mendoza read a letter in court to ask for forgiveness. 
 
 Kayla Mendoza Gets 24 Years in Prison in 2 Drunk 2 Care Crash 
 
 Kayla Mendoza is sentenced to 24 years in prison in the fatal crash that killed Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marrissa Cotronio. (Published Monday, May 4, 2015) 
 
 "I know that I have made mistakes and the outcome is so much more than I could ever imagine," she said. 
 
 Mendoza also spoke about Ferrante and Catronio. 
 
 "No matter how much time passes they will never leave my heart. I think about them everyday and I regret my choices everyday," she said. "I don't remember deciding to drive that night so I can't even tell you what was going through my mind when I made that decision. I have no excuses for anything I've done, I just ask for forgiveness." 
 
 The families of Ferrante and Catronio begged the judge for the maximum of 30 years and addressed Mendoza. 
 
 "Kayla, you changed all that, you took all those dreams away," mother Christine Ferrante said. "And then I had to make the choice to pull her off of life support, that's something a mother should never have to do." 
 
 "How do you forgive someone who's ruined your life and family's lives forever?" brother Justin Catronio said. 
 
 24 Years in Prison in 2 Drunk 2 Care Crash 
 
 Kayla Mendoza is sentenced to 24 years in prison in the fatal crash on the Sawgrass Expressway. (Published Monday, May 4, 2015) 
 
 Authorities said Mendoza, who was 20 years old at the time, had gone out to a Coral Springs bar after work where she drank two large fish bowl-sized margaritas. 
 
 After the infamous tweet, Mendoza drove her white Hyundai the wrong way on the Sawgrass Expressway and slammed into a red car driven by Ferrante. 
 
 It was later discovered that Mendoza was driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, according to police. 

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 FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The driver responsible for a wrong way wreck that took the lives of two young girls was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison and six years of probation. 
 
 Kayla Mendoza was under the influence when she crashed head-on on the Sawgrass Expressway, killing 21-year old Kaitlyn Nicole Ferrante and 21-year old Marisa Caran Catronio in November 2013. 
 
 CLICK HERE To Watch Carey Codd’s Report 
 
 Mendoza was facing a maximum of 30 years in prison for two counts of DUI Manslaughter. 
 
 During the emotional sentencing hearing there was a torrent of emotions – sadness, anger, devastation. 
 
 “How do you forgive someone who ruined your life and your family’s lives forever?” said Dustin Catronio, Marisa’s brother. 
 
 Kaitlyn Ferrante’s mother told Mendoza that she tore her family apart. 
 
 “You took took everything I worked so hard to keep safe and protected and destroyed it in one careless second, you destroyed it all,” Ferrante said. 
 
 The victims’ families directed their anger at the self-described pothead princess at the sentencing hearing Monday. Mendoza tweeted ‘2 drunk to care’ then hours later drove drunk, the wrong way at high speeds on the Sawgrass Expressway in November 2013, killing both Catronio and Ferrante. 
 
 “Drinking and driving is not an accident,” said Ferrante’s sister, Ashley. “No one accidentally does it. It’s a reckless and careless mistake.” 
 
 The families of the victims told Mendoza her actions mean that these two young women would never start careers, get married or have children. 
 
 “I so wanted that first dance at her wedding which I’ll never have,” Gary Catronio said, weeping. “I want her back.” 
 
 And the parents are left with pain that no parent should endure. Natalie Catronio, Marisa’s mother, wrote a letter that a family member read in court. She mentioned her visits to Marisa’s grave. 
 
 “It kills me when I have to leave her because I can just imagine her screaming after me, ‘Mom please don’t leave me here,” Natalie Catronio wrote. “And always I turn back to blow her a kiss and tell her how sorry I am that I couldn’t protect her that night.” 
 
 Mendoza wept too and apologized for her actions. 
 
 “No matter how much time passes, I will live with that every day – that I took their life,” Mendoza said. “The guilt is overwhelming.” 
 
 Mendoza asked for mercy and a lighter sentence based on her remorse and her guilty plea but the judge refused, ending her away for 24 years and adding on six years of probation. The victim’s families said the punishment is fair. 
 
 “No sentencing will ever bring my daughter but we are pleased with what the judge handed down to her,” Christine Ferrante said. 
 
 “It doesn’t put behind us what we go through on a daily basis for what we lost that can’t be replaced,” Gary Catronio said. 
 
 Under state law, Mendoza will not walk free until she is in her early 40’s. The victim’s families asked a judge to make an example of Mendoza for others about the dangers of drinking and driving and they believe the judge did. The victim’s families also continue to fight for safeguards to protect this community and others from wrong way drivers. 
 
 Mendoza admitted she was under the influence at the time of the accident. 
 
 Mendoza’s blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. 
 
 In a video deposition taken by lawyers for the victims’ families, Mendoza said she has no recollection of driving on the highway or the crash. However, she did recall going out with drinks with co-workers the night of accident. 
 
 At the time, she was only 20-years old. The receipt from Tijuana Taxi shows the underage Mendoza drank two large house margaritas and had two other drinks of Patron Silver tequila. The receipt shows a payment of $65.78. The receipt does not show that Mendoza ate anything. 
 
 The Florida Highway Patrol says at some point that night or the next morning Mendoza tweeted “2 drunk 2 care.” 
 
 Mendoza said the tweet has been taken out of context. She said it didn’t mean that she was going to get behind the wheel and whatever happened, happened. Instead, she said, it was meant for her boyfriend because the two had just recently argued. 
 
 A benefit concert has been set up in Marisa Catronio’s name. For information and more details, click here. 

 The driver who infamously tweeted she was "2 drunk 2 care" the night a wrong-way crash killed two other young women on the Sawgrass Expressway in 2013 was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison. 
 
 Kayla Maria Mendoza, 22, was facing up to 30 years after pleading guilty Feb. 18 to two counts of DUI manslaughter. Her sentence also carries a six-year probation term upon her release from prison. 
 
 Her attorney, Will Anderson, said she could be released early for good behavior. With credit for time served, Mendoza will be about 42 to 46 years old when released from a women's prison near Ocala. 
 
 "That feels like a lifetime" to her, Anderson said. 
 
 Broward Circuit Judge David Haimes said sentencing Mendoza to the maximum 30 years would not be appropriate given her age, her remorse, and lack of criminal history. "Hopefully after you finish [this] sentence you can put this behind you," he told her. 
 
 Kayla Maria Mendoza, 22, the driver who infamously tweeted she was “2 drunk 2 care” minutes before a wrong-way crash killed two other young women on the Sawgrass Expressway in 2013, was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison. 
 
 Among her terms: The inability to ever get a driver's license. "So it's crystal clear, you will never drive again," Haimes said. "Do you understand that?" 
 
 Prosecutors said Mendoza was at the Tijuana Taxi restaurant in Coral Springs on the night of Nov. 16, 2013, with her supervisors and colleagues from her sales job at T-Mobile. Court documents show she drank two large margaritas, each in a "fish bowl size" glass, even though she was under the legal drinking age. 
 
 Her blood alcohol level was .15, nearly twice the legal limit of .08, when she tried to drive home by traveling north in the southbound lanes along the Sawgrass Expressway for seven miles at more than 80 mph — even though she has never had a driver's license. There were also traces of marijuana in her system, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. 
 
 handout / Sun Sentinel Marisa Catronio (left) and Kaitlyn Ferrante both killed in wrong way crash on sawgrass Expressway Nov 17, 2013. Marisa Catronio (left) and Kaitlyn Ferrante both killed in wrong way crash on sawgrass Expressway Nov 17, 2013. (handout / Sun Sentinel) 
 
 Officials said civil lawsuits from the families are pending against both T-Mobile and Tijuana Taxi. 
 
 Best friends Marisa Catronio and Kaitlyn Nicole Ferrante, both 21, were killed when Mendoza's Hyundai Sonata collided head-on with Ferrante's Toyota Camry near North University Drive. Catronio died at the scene after the car's engine crushed her into her seat. Ferrante died later at Broward Health North Medical Center when her family took her off life support and donated her organs. 
 
 Mendoza suffered head injuries and broke both legs. 
 
 Mendoza, a first semester college student and aspiring teacher, sobbed in court Monday as she begged both families to forgive her. "This was a terrible mistake and a tragedy for everyone involved," she said. "I can't explain how I feel. I think about them every day. I saw their pictures; they're so beautiful." 
 
 Neither family said they were ready to forgive. Donna Ramirez, Catronio's cousin, accompanied the girl's father to pick out a white coffin. "I should be paying for a wedding," she recalled him sobbing. 
 
 "How do you forgive someone who ruined your life and your family's life forever," Catronio's brother, Dustin, asked. 
 
 Catronio and Ferrante were both the eldest of three siblings, and both attended Palm Beach State College. Catronio worked in a pediatrician's office. Ferrante wanted to become a neonatal nurse. 
 
 "You took away all those dreams," Ferrante's mother, Christine, said. "You took the life of my precious daughter and you destroyed my family … My heart and soul are broken … I pass Kaitlyn's room and it's quiet and empty." 
 
 A relative read a letter from Catronio's mother, Natalie. She talked about visiting her daughter's gravesite, and her daughter begging her not to leave her alone. "I turn and blow her a kiss," the letter read, and apologize for not protecting her that night. 
 
 Ferrante's sister, Ashley, said both families are still trying to cope with their loss. "No sentence is going to be enough," she said. 
 
 Ashley Ferrante is about two weeks away from delivering a baby girl. She said the baby's name will be Grace Kaitlyn, after Kaitlyn. 
 
 lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008
– The 22-year-old woman who tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" shortly before causing a fatal crash in Florida in 2013 was sentenced yesterday to 24 years in prison, NBC Miami reports. "I don't remember deciding to drive that night, so I can't even tell you what was going through my mind when I made that decision," a tearful Kayla Mendoza, who pleaded guilty to two charges of DUI manslaughter in February, told the court. "I have no excuses for anything I've done, I just ask for forgiveness." Mendoza, then 20, drank two oversize margaritas at a bar after work, then drove her car the wrong way on an expressway, hitting another car head-on. The crash killed the driver of the second car, Kaitlyn Ferrante, and Ferrante's best friend Marisa Catronio, both 21. "How do you forgive someone who's ruined your life and family's lives forever?" Catronio's brother said in court. Ferrante's mom told Mendoza, "I had to make the choice to pull her off of life support, that's something a mother should never have to do." Both families asked the judge to give Mendoza the maximum 30-year sentence. Though she was only given 24 years, Mendoza—who also had traces of marijuana in her system and a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit at the time of the crash—will also serve six years of probation after she is released and will never be allowed to drive again. (The Sun-Sentinel notes that Mendoza never had a driver's license.) Mendoza has said that her now-infamous tweet was not about driving, but was directed at a boyfriend with whom she was upset, CBS Miami reports. (A similar story also ended in tragedy.)