A city woman who was charged in connection with a crash in which her passenger died was sentenced in Lycoming County Court on Tuesday.

Jodie Michelle Walker, 31, of 1503 High St., was sentenced by county Judge Marc F. Lovecchio to serve 11 1/2 to 23 months in county prison followed by three years of probation.

According to court papers, the crash occurred when Walker’s vehicle approached the Route 15 off-ramp at West Third Street on Sept. 29, 2015, too quickly and hit the concrete barrier, ejecting her passenger, Dawn Milheim, causing her death.

Walker pleaded guilty to homicide by a vehicle and driving at unsafe speeds in the incident.

The sentence was fashioned off of a plea agreement signed by the girfriend of one of Milheim’s son’s during a preliminary hearing.

The agreement would place Walker’s sentence below the standard range of minimum to maximum time, Lovecchio said.

Whether the rest of the family was in agreement with how the agreement would affect sentencing was debated during the hearing.

Based on victim impact statements, Milheim’s family was looking for “justice to be served” and for closure by initially seeking a maximum sentence.

“It seems to me what was said at the preliminary hearing is different than what was said in the victim impact statements,” Lovecchio said. “The commonwealth is asking me to sentence her below the standard range, but the court has to justify a mitigated sentence.”

The commonwealth didn’t give reasons for the sentence to be mitigated, he said.

The sentence agreed upon would be only two weeks less than the standard sentencing, Assistant District Attorney A. Melissa Kalaus said.

“But the victims were under the impression that the sentence was within the standard range,” Lovecchio said.

The two weeks is significant in that it would push the sentence from a county prison to a state prison term.

Walker, who is a recovering heroin addict, admitted to doing heroin a week before the crash but tested positive for the drug a day after the wreck on Sept. 30.

She also didn’t seek treatment until seven months after her friend, Milheim, died in the crash, according to the investigation.

But relevant to prosecution, whether Walker used the drug the day of the crash couldn’t be proved, Kalaus said.

“I can’t help but think this tragedy was a culmination of the life you were leading,” Lovecchio said, “… all in the face of available treatments.”

Before sentencing Walker, Lovecchio asked one of Milheim’s sons if he would like the closure he said they were seeking in his victim impact statement.

By rejecting the plea agreement, the case could be brought to trial, prolonging the pain the family already visibly felt and would leave the decision up to a jury, Lovecchio said.

“I am not going to put your family through anything more,” he said. “You are one of the primary victims and I am going to give you guys the closure you are asking for.”

After showing emotion throughout the hearing, Walker spoke to the family sitting in the courtroom.

“She was my friend and I knew her for eight years,” she said. “It’s very hard for me to accept and forgive myself for the pain I have caused your family … . But I do pray for you every night that you find the peace and closure you deserve.”

As part of her sentence, which began immediately after the hearing, Walker also will have to do 75 hours of community service.