Authorities charged Maria Nicole Werts, a 49-year-old resident of Southeast D.C., with driving under the influence and involuntary manslaughter following a gruesome accident that left a woman dead. Police arrested Werts at the scene. Werts driving without a license at the time of the accident. Additionally, the license plates on the car had expired.
Emmajean Gainey was walking with her boyfriend to the store after church along the sidewalk of First Street SW and South Capitol Street when she was struck by the intoxicated Werts. Werts was driving a white Toyota Yaris, and had just cut off another driver. Werts then made an illegal turn on red after swerving and skipping over the curb. Charging documents say that pedestrians fled from the erratic vehicle. Werts lost control and ended up on the sidewalk. Gainey was struck by the rogue vehicle twice. The first hit threw Gainey against a tree. Gainey was crouched against it when she hit a second time. The second hit pinned her against the tree and ended her life.
Werts was heavily intoxicated that day. Court documents reveal that Werts had a blood alcohol content of .09 percent that day, slightly higher than the legal limit. Werts told police officers that she had consumed two bottles malt liquor and that she had also consumed two coconut vodka shots. Additional, Werts admitted that she had smoked a “dime bag” of crack cocaine earlier in the day. She denied actually driving the Toyota Yaris and told officers that she simply got in the car to move it following the grizzly crash. Numerous bystanders told a different story. They claim to have pushed the car off of Gainey. They also told police that Werts walked away from the crash. According to court documents, several witnesses have identified Werts as the river of the car, including a passenger at the time of the accident.
Floyd Little Sr., Gainey’s fianc
