Sunset Hills cop expected to plead guilty in drunken crash that killed four
December 8, 2010
By Kim Bell

CLAYTON - A former Sunset Hills police officer is expected to plead guilty Thursday to charges that she was driving drunk and killed four people in 2009.

Christine L. Miller, 42, is scheduled to enter a "blind plea" at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the courtroom of St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael T. Jamison.

Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch's office confirmed Tuesday that the blind plea was coming.

A blind plea means no deal was made with prosecutors. McCulloch's office would have no control over the sentence. Miller is essentially throwing herself on the mercy of the court, taking whatever sentence is handed down.

Miller is charged with four counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault for the early morning crash on March 21, 2009.

Jamison will have a wide range of punishment to hand down -- from probation to life in prison on each count. The sentence won't be handed down for weeks.

McCulloch's office said that Miller's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, did not come to McCulloch asking what his recommendation for sentence would be, and McCulloch's office made no recommendation.

Rosenblum could not be reached for comment early Tuesday.

Miller was off-duty when she drove the wrong way on Dougherty Ferry Road in Des Peres, police say. Her car collided with another car turning right off Des Peres Road.

Four passengers in the car she hit were killed: Anusha Anumolu, 23, Anita Lakshmi Veerapaneni, 23, and Priya Muppavarapu, 22, all of Charleston, Ill., and Satya Subhakar Chinta, 25, of Aurora, Ill.

All four passengers were natives of India. They had studied and worked in the United States for several years.

The driver of the car, Nitesh Adusumilli, 27, of Ballwin, was severely injured.

The three Charleston women killed in the crash were working toward master's degrees in information technology at Eastern Illinois University.

About three hours after the crash, at 4:35 a.m., Miller's blood-alcohol content was still twice the legal limit -- measuring 0.169, McCulloch said after filing charges in June 2009.

Because Miller had medical issues from injuries sustained in the crash, she was released to home confinement and outfitted with an an ankle bracelet.

The Sunset Hills police put Miller on unpaid suspension after the charges were filed.