It was 2 a.m. on Friday morning when Samantha Lane was struggling to find the words that she would read in court just hours later.

Trying to sum up her little sister's life, the pain of her family in the aftermath her death, and the build of up of a delayed court case – which has been stalled for three years due to a pandemic and procedural delays – was not a simple feat. 

On Friday morning the Lane family walked into Merrimack County Superior Court for the sentencing of the drunk driver that killed their youngest daughter Angelica, at the edge of their driveway in June of 2019. 

For three years the Lanes have waited – for some form of justice, for an explanation and for a moment to publicly share how their lives changed that Sunday night, when “Jelly” left for work and was killed in a crash right outside her home. 

Maggie Doorlag, now a mother of two who rear-ended Angelica’s car pushing it into oncoming traffic, left the courtroom in handcuffs. It will be two years until she is released from the state prison for charges of negligent homicide. 

Sentencing

Samantha Lane’s voice shook as she stated her name for the court record. Friends and family packed the wooden benches wearing purple ribbons and black t-shirts that read “Justice for Jelly. 

She paused to collect herself, with her younger brother Zachary standing with her at the microphone. 

“Had this happened three years ago right after the accident, this might have been much easier because all of my emotions were so raw and surface level. I feel like I would have had an easier time getting my words together,” she said. “Now I've had three years to dwell and sit in my feelings.”

Samantha and Zachary were two of eight speakers in the courtroom Friday who read victim impact statements. 

Samantha spoke about how she wanted to do a girls' trip with her younger sister to North Carolina and New York. She wanted to be her maid of honor, and for Jelly to be hers. 

The siblings replayed the night of June 23, 2019 for the audience. Samantha heard a crash from her apartment that sits on her parents’ property. She made it down to the foot of the driveway when she saw the car, and couldn’t see her sister in the driver's seat. 

Zachary drove over to the house to discover the worst.

“When I tell you that the scream my parents let out was the most horrific and traumatizing thing, please believe me. That is something I will never forget,” he said. 

He stood in the driveway with his sister, and made phone calls to friends and family that no one wants to make, he said. 

Friends talked about hoping their children grow up to find a friend like Jelly. Allison Laroche named her daughter in honor of her late friend. 

“Instead of spending time creating beautiful memories, I'm forced to share beautiful memories with [my daughter] through pictures and stories only hoping someday she will find a best friend like one I had,” she said. 

Doorlag sat alongside her attorney Mark Sisti, and gazed straight ahead, eyes tearful, as the speakers stood behind her. 

“Maggie Doorlag will forever be etched into my memory as the person who took the life of my youngest cousin,” said Kayla Morse. “What you took from us is irreplaceable.”

One after another, cousins, friends and family stated their name for the court record and took a breath before reminding Doorlag of the life they lost.

The last to go, Chris and Michelle Lane – Jelly’s parents – addressed Doorlag with the harrowing details of a day that changed their lives. 

Chris Lane started his story in the last month of his daughter’s life. After a family trip to North Carolina, she came back to celebrate her 22nd birthday on June 1, 2019. 

She was working as a pizza delivery driver at the time, in need of a new car. He helped her pick one out from the dealership. She was planning to pay $100 a week until it was paid off. In the back of his mind, he knew he’d help her with some of the payments.

“She had just bought the car she would die in,” he said. 

Michelle stood by his side as he told the audience of the events of Sunday, June 23. He saw Jelly for the last time, in the driver’s seat of her car as she waved from the foot of the driveway and headed off to work. 

He sold a washing machine that morning, knowing he would give Jelly the profit to put towards her car. A few hours later, paramedics tried in vain to save their daughter’s life and gave them the news that no parents want to hear. 

The delayed trial 

The case of Doorlag v. the State of New Hampshire was delayed like many cases due to statewide pandemic precautions. But there were other unexpected delays, like a pregnancy and a marriage for Doorlag. 

After Doorlag pleaded not guilty in 2019 and waved the arraignment, jury selection was set for September 2020. It was then delayed until the new year. 

In June of 2021 – two years after the crash – the Lanes sat in their living to watch the final pretrial hearing online. Due to Doorlag’s pregnancy, Judge Andrew Schulman pushed the date again to November. 

If the case had gone to trial it would have featured testimonies by two toxicology experts, two accident reconstruction experts and a forensic pathologist, according to Schulman. All three vehicles involved in the accident would have been featured by the experts to make their case in front of a jury. 

Instead, Doorlag pleaded guilty to the charges.

Earlier this year the two parties met at a mediation hearing to negotiate the terms of her sentence, with Doorlag spending at least two years in the state prison, with up to six on the table. Time earned for good behavior can also be awarded. 

She lost her license indefinitely. 

“I think that Maggie did them a tremendous service to lessen the pain by not going to trial,” said Sisti. 

The mediation was also a chance for the Lane family and Doorlag to speak face-to-face.

In the courtroom Friday, Doorlag passed at her chance to speak. She listened to the Lane’s statements, rarely turning around to look at them as they spoke, and Schulman’s ruling. Sisti grabbed her black purse, left on the table, as she was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. 

After the hearing, Michelle Lane was given three letters Doorlag wrote to the family in the years since the accident. 

“Maggie knew today was going to be Angelica’s day and a day for the family to speak out and support Angelica. She wanted the focus to be on Angelica and not on herself,” Sisti said. 

There were no winners in the courtroom Friday. The Lanes must forever grieve a daughter who was taken from them in a matter of seconds in a car accident. On the other side was a young mother who would spend years away from her daughters to pay the price for her actions. 

A state-wide issue

Beth and Chris Shaw were also in the courtroom wearing the purple pinned ribbons. They knew this process way too well. They are among the few that understand the Lanes pain of losing a child to drunk driving. 

In 2018, their eldest son Tyler died in Bow after being hit by a car driven by Joeseph Leonard, who was driving drunk. It was the third time Leonard had been arrested for doing so. 

This year, the couple stood behind Governor Chris Sununu as he signed the “Tyler Shaw Law” – which enforces stricter penalties for repeat drunk driving offenders. 

After the Shaw’s heard of the Loudon crash, they reached out to the Lane family. The Lanes were in the courtroom when Leonard was sentenced to six years in prison. The Shaws stood by the Lanes for Doorlag’s sentencing as well. 

“No one understands this, unless you have gone through it,” said Beth Shaw. “There is nothing you can do to make this better. But I think it helps to truly have someone who understands what you are going through.” 

The families now have dinner. Beth and Michelle will talk through hard days.

Together, Michelle hopes to shed light on the larger issue of drunk driving in the state. 

That is what Schulman hoped for as well, in his final address to the court. 

“I wish that this sentencing were seen in every high school in the state. I wish they were seen in every college,” he said. 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving was an organization originally created by people like Michelle Lane, he said, to advocate against drunk driving. 

“We all know that is what Ms. Doorlag did,” he said. “It is not okay to do that.”

By talking about Jelly, alongside her friend Beth Shaw and other mothers, Michelle Lane said she will work to keep her daughter’s legacy alive. Perhaps they’ll go to schools and read the victim impact statements, or find other ways to advocate on behalf of their children. 

Samantha wonders what change could be made with more reminders to not drink and drive in television ads and other media in a state that keeps setting records for alcohol sales.

Or if schools across the state had a day devoted to learning about the consequences about drinking and driving – how a split second can upend a family’s life, as the Lanes know all too well.

“I want to be loud and I want to make a big deal out of this. You’re not just hurting yourself and putting yourself in danger,” she said. “You’re putting other people in danger. This needs to be known and taken care of.” 

On Saturday the Lane’s gathered for their annual celebration of Jelly’s life. Every year they have a cookout and set off fireworks to honor their daughter in June.

This year, they waited until after the trial, knowing that some form of justice had been served. 

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