PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a North Kingstown woman was sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve seven years at the Adult Correctional Institutions after pleading to drunk driving and causing an accident that resulted in the death of Patricia Daniels and injured two others in East Greenwich in 2019.
Barbara Trojan (age 63) entered a plea of nolo contendere on July 15, 2021, to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death and two counts of driving so as to endanger, physical injury resulting.
At a sentencing hearing today before Superior Court Justice Daniel A. Procaccini, the Court sentenced Trojan to 12 years at the ACI with seven years to serve and the balance of the sentence suspended with probation. The Court also sentenced Trojan to three years of home confinement to be served consecutive to her sentence at the ACI. For the duration of her home confinement, a breathalyzer will be installed in her home. Additionally, the Court ordered that Trojan's driver's licensed be revoked for five years following her release and she must complete substance abuse treatment for alcohol.
"There is just no reason to drive while under the influence of alcohol – ever. Get a ride home. Call a taxi or a ride-sharing service. When you don't, you risk your life and the lives of others. And yet, week after week, month after month, year after year, people who are intoxicated take to the roads anyway, and far too often cause irrevocable harm to innocent people," said Attorney General Neronha. "The criminal justice system cannot reverse time, yet I hope that today's sentence of incarceration provides some assurance that those who irresponsibly endanger others will be held to account. I also hope it provides some sense of justice for Patricia's loved ones and the community."
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that on the evening of September 6, 2019, Trojan drove drunk and hit an SUV that was travelling in the opposite direction on Frenchtown Road in East Greenwich, resulting in the death of a passenger, Patricia Daniels, and physically injuring two other passengers in the vehicle.
That evening, over the course of approximately five hours, Trojan drank a significant amount of alcohol at a bar in East Greenwich before driving to travel home in her Volkswagen sedan around midnight.
At that time, Patricia Daniels was a passenger along with three other occupants in an Infiniti SUV traveling eastbound on Frenchtown Road. Trojan, traveling westbound, veered across three lanes of travel and struck the SUV diagonally, causing the SUV to flip over and land resting on its side.
Following the response from rescue personnel, Patricia Daniels was transported to Rhode Island hospital, where she was pronounced dead several days later, on September 11, 2019. Two additional passengers were brought to the hospital for serious injuries including head trauma, lacerations, and bruising.
Following the crash, rescue personnel brought Trojan to Kent County Memorial Hospital where investigators determined that her blood alcohol level was .225.
Assistant Attorney General John E. Corrigan of the Office of the Attorney General; Detective Lieutenant Jeremy Fague, Detective Lieutenant Tyler Lufkin, Detective David Black, and Patrol Officer Matthew Cordle of the East Greenwich Police Department; and Trooper Michael Colasante of the Rhode Island State Police led the prosecution and investigation of the case.
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