Posted on: June 04, 2025 10:50 AM

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Georgia woman pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2024 Massapequa crash that killed victim driver

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Georgia woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter for driving recklessly while high on marijuana and t-boning another vehicle at the intersection of Hicksville Road and Sunrise Highway in Massapequa, causing the death of the 64-year-old driver and injuries to another passenger in April 2024.

Rachel Lodice, 22, pleaded guilty today before Judge Tammy Robbins to Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a D felony); Leaving the Scene of a Fatality without Reporting (a D felony); Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a D felony); Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); and Assault in the Third Degree (a class A misdemeanor).

The defendant is expected to be sentenced to 3-1/3 to 10 years in prison on July 21, 2025. NCDA recommended a sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison.

“As I have unfortunately said far too many times, impaired driving has devastating consequences. This defendant made several disastrous choices endangering multiple drivers on the road as she sped through red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road while high on marijuana,” said DA Donnelly. “Those reckless decisions led to a tragic outcome when the defendant slammed into Cynthia Mitchell’s vehicle, killing her, and injuring her friend who was also in the car. Today’s guilty plea cannot undo the pain Cynthia’s family will forever endure, but it’s a step toward justice.”

DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, on April 23, 2024, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the defendant got into her 2023 Kia Rio at a Target store in Hicksville and began driving south on Newbridge Road.

The defendant pulled into a Walgreens parking lot a short time later at the corner of Old Country Road and Hicksville Road where she stopped momentarily.

The defendant then pulled onto Hicksville Road and began driving erratically at a high rate of speed. The defendant drove more than six miles southbound on Hicksville Road, and at times, did so on the wrong side of the double yellow line, over raised medians, and through several red traffic lights.

At approximately 6:45 p.m., the defendant ran a red light at the intersection of Hicksville Road and Sunrise Highway while impaired by marijuana and t-boned a 2022 Nissan Altima driven by 64-year-old Cynthia Mitchell and carrying another passenger.

Mitchell suffered extensive injuries and was transported to Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) where she was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival.

Mitchell’s passenger suffered several broken ribs and a lacerated spleen and was also transported to NUMC, where she was treated and released.

According to the event data recorder from Lodice’s vehicle, the defendant was driving approximately 76 miles per hour five seconds before the crash. The speed limit at that section of roadway is 35 miles per hour.

Mitchell and her friend were on their way to a Hobby Lobby store in Massapequa to go shopping at the time of the crash.

A Town of Oyster Bay Public Safety Officer traveling eastbound on Sunrise Highway saw the collision and stopped to assist and block off traffic.

From DA