VERO BEACH – An Orchid woman in court June 13, pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter related to a 2022 fatal crash that killed an 89-year-old John’s Island man shortly before a judge ordered her to spend nearly 14 years in prison.
Appearing before Circuit Judge Robert Meadows, Elizabeth Jewkes Danielsen, 63, also pleaded guilty to DUI with serious bodily injury in the May 10, 2022 crash that took the life of Charles Ingraham, and injured his wife, Frances Ingraham, 84.
Danielsen had already entered a guilty plea to vehicular homicide related to the two-car collision Indian River Shores police described as a high-speed crash caused by an intoxicated driver.
The crash happened shortly before 8:45 p.m. in the 6400 block of State Road A1A near Bermuda Bay Lane just south of the John’s Island South Oceanside and Riverside gates, and north of the Indian River Shores Public Safety Department, court records show.
An 89-year-old Indian River Shores man died from injuries sustained in a May 10 car crash on State Road A1A near his John’s Island home, medical officials said.
The vehicles involved were a convertible coupe Mercedes Benz E 350, occupied by Danielsen and a Lexus ES350 occupied by Ingraham and his wife. The Lexus was struck from behind as both vehicles traveled north on S.R. A1A, according to Indian River Shores police reports.
All three people were taken to hospitals with varying degrees of injuries. Ingraham, of the 400 block of Silver Moss Drive, also suffered several fractures in his neck, back and ribs and extensive bruising.
He died eight days later from “complications of blunt impact injuries of the torso” sustained as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident, and pre-existing heart problems, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Police charged Danielsen in January 2023 after taking her into custody while poolside at the Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club where she had lived since her 2019 marriage to California attorney Paul W. Danielsen, records show.
Sentencing hearing
Danielsen, a former elementary teacher who was supported in court by family and friends, apologized to Frances Ingraham, who did not attend the hearing.
“I’m so deeply sorry for the pain that I’ve caused Francis Ingraham and her beloved family. However, it doesn’t matter how I feel, as my sincere feelings will never ever bring back Christopher Ingraham,” Danielsen said, her voice strained with emotion. “Not a day goes by that my first thought of the morning is of the Ingraham family and what I have done to them. It is the same thoughts that consume me every night.
“I caused this tragedy,” she added. “I am 100% responsible, no one else. And this is my debt to pay.”
Danielsen expressed regret for not being able to “undo my actions that night.”
“I never set out to hurt anyone that night,” she said. “If I could change places with Mr. Ingraham, I would.”
In a prepared statement provided to the state by Frances Ingraham, Assistant State Attorney William Long told Meadows she wrote that Danielsen “made choices that caused me and my family a tremendous loss.”
Assistant State Attorney William Long presents evidence as Indian River Shores Public Safety Department Lt. Albert Iovino took the stand, June 13, 2025, regarding a May 10, 2022, crash caused by Elizabeth Jewkes Danielsen, 63, of Orchid, who pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter with serious bodily harm.
“I’m glad that … Ms. Danielson was charged, that she has pled guilty to those charges, and that she will apparently be sentenced in accordance with the law,” Long read aloud. “It’s not up to me to decide the length of Elizabeth Danielsen’s sentence. However, I hope it will reflect the suffering she inflicted on Chris, on me and all my family, and in the future, act as a deterrent to others.”
And despite Danielsen’s lawyer Andrew Metcalf arguing for a minimum sentence of four years – she faced up to 45 years – Circuit Judge Robert Meadows ordered her to serve a total of 13.8 years in prison.
Meadows specifically imposed 166.5 months for DUI manslaughter, 10 years for vehicular homicide, and five years for DUI with serious bodily injury, with the prison terms to be served at the same time.
He also suspended her driver’s license for life.
After court, Long said he felt Meadows imposed a just punishment.
“I think it’s a fair sentence … and I think it holds her accountable and also let’s the community know that we take this seriously here in Indian River County,” Long said.
He also credited Indian River Shores Police Lt. Albert Iovino for conducting an investigation into the fatal crash.
“He’s a traffic homicide investigator, and his work is what made the case so strong,” Long said. “And ultimately I think it’s the strength of that case that caused the result that we got today.”
Wrongful death civil trial
Reached June 13, Vero Beach attorney Dane R. Ullian, who represented Frances Ingraham during a May wrongful death trial in which a jury returned a $29 million judgment against Danielsen, stated that “the events of May 10, 2022 were horrific and left a terrible scar on the family and friends of Frances and Christopher Ingraham.”
“Frances Ingraham thanks the community for their outpouring of support, thanks the jury and court for their careful consideration of the civil case, and thanks the court, law enforcement, and the State Attorney’s Office for working to bring the criminal case to a just conclusion,” Ullian said via email. “It is our sincere hope that our neighbors will learn from this case and it will help prevent future drunk driving tragedies.”
Records show on May 28 following a two week trial, a jury determined Danielsen should pay $19 million to Frances Ingraham in compensatory damages related to pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of companionship. The jury’s verdict included another $10 million in punitive damages, which is money awarded to punish a defendant whose conduct is considered grossly negligent.
A deputy swabs Orchid resident Elizabeth Jewkes Danielsen’s mouth, June 13, 2025, after being sentenced to 13.8 years in prison for the May 10, 2022, two-vehicle crash she caused. John’s Island resident Christopher Ingraham, 89, died eight days after the crash.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2023 against Danielsen and her husband Paul Danielsen, in part accused Elizabeth Danielsen of being drunk while “driving in a careless, aggressive and/or reckless manner,” and “traveling at an excessively high rate of speed.”
The lawsuit claims before the crash, the couple had been consuming alcoholic beverages at a local establishment and then left in separate cars.
The Danielsens were accused of engaging in “reckless driving, racing one another” as they drove north on S.R. A1A in Indian River Shores.
Jurors though, rejected claims that Paul Danielsen was liable for the crash.
When asked on a verdict form “was Paul Danielsen acting in concert with Elizabeth Danielsen at the time of the motor vehicle collision?” jurors voted no.
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On June 4, lawyers representing Paul Danielsen in the civil suit filed papers seeking to collect attorney fees and costs from Frances Ingraham and two personal representatives from Christopher Ingraham’s estate.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 28.
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of “Uncertain Terms,” a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Orchid woman Danielson guilty of 2022 DUI manslaughter sent to prison