LAKE MARY, Fla. – A Seminole County mother who crashed her BMW into a tree in 2000, killing her teenage daughter and her daughter's friend, has been released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence.
Mary Hill, 67, was convicted of vehicular homicide and manslaughter following a highly-publicized trial that was featured on the CBS program "48 Hours"
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After picking up the children from Greenwood Lakes Middle School, Hill drove her BMW west on Lake Mary Boulevard and then turned south onto Markham Woods Road.
According to investigators, Hill's vehicle quickly accelerated to 73 mph before veering off the road slamming into a tree.
The impact killed Hill's 13-year-old daughter Amy and Amy's 14-year-old friend, Carrie Brown. Another passenger, 13-year-old Zak Rockwell, was severely injured in the crash.
During Hill's trial in 2004, defense experts testified that a mechanical defect in the BMW's cruise control may have caused the car to speed up on its own.
Prosecutors argued that Hill, who had visited her psychiatrist earlier that day and may have been suicidal, had been seen driving recklessly after dropping off her husband Dennis at a gas station near Heathrow.
Following the completion of her 15-year prison sentence, a judge ordered Hill be placed on probation for five years.
Records from the Florida Department of Corrections indicate Hill will serve that probation in a small town in southern Illinois. Hill's husband will be her primary source of income and will be responsible for providing her with housing, transportation and meals, a report states.
"She's enjoying her release," Dennis Hill told News 6. "It's been a rough road for all of us. One of our rules is that we're not going to talk about the past at all."
Hill indicated that his wife now prefers to stay close to home.
"It's a very difficult transition, but I think she’ll make it," he said.
Carrie Brown's mother did not immediately respond to a Facebook message sent by News 6.