Forestville woman faces 14 years after fatal crash

A Forestville woman accused in a September drunken driving crash that killed a Rohnert Park mother of five pleaded not guilty Monday to three felony counts including vehicular manslaughter.

A tearful Judy Shafer, 55, sat in the courtroom handcuffed to a wheelchair, her legs in bandages. She appeared confused as she answered to the charges and denied special enhancements and other allegations that could put her in prison for up to 14 years if convicted.

She sobbed as a bailiff wheeled her from the courtroom.

Family members of Kathy O'Daniel, 54, who was killed in the Sept. 14 crash in southwest Santa Rosa, said outside the courtroom they were eager to see the case proceed.

O'Daniel's husband, Chuck O'Daniel, said he had confidence in the prosecution's case. He said he had just returned to his job as a retail manager for the first time in five weeks.

“People have been extremely supportive,” he said.

The crash happened on Llano Road after O'Daniel picked up her youngest daughter from volleyball practice at Analy High School in Sebastopol. She was headed home to Rohnert Park, according to the CHP.

Shafer was driving from her storage unit to her home in west Sonoma County. As the two vehicles approached each other, Shafer's Jeep drove onto the wrong side of the road and hit the left front side of O'Daniel's Honda Civic, the CHP said.

CHP Sgt. Robert Mota said Shafer's blood-alcohol level was more than double the legal limit of .08 percent.

Freshman student Kelcee O'Daniel, 15, was hospitalized for several days and just recently returned to classes at Analy. She has a hand cast and suffered a lacerated spleen, said her father, Chuck O'Daniel.

Shafer suffered moderate injuries, was released from the hospital and taken to Sonoma County Jail, said Mota.

She was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. She's charged with three felonies and multiple enhancements that could bring prison time, Deputy District Attorney Bob Waner said.

A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 3. Her next court appearance is Nov. 30.

Kathy O'Daniel had worked in recent years at Creekside Middle School in Rohnert Park. With cutbacks in that district, she started this fall at Brooks Elementary in Windsor.