Albany Woman Sentenced to Prison For DWI Fatal Crash

Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that the 25-year-old woman who was intoxicated when she launched her car over an I-90 guardrail and killed two friends in October of last year has been sentenced to state prison.

The Honorable Christopher Maier sentenced Imahjai Sutherland to serve an indeterminate six and two-thirds to 20 years in prison after she pleaded guilty in March to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide.

On Oct. 12, 2025, at approximately 4 a.m., Sutherland was operating her Mazda and traveling eastbound on I-90 when she attempted to navigate the southbound ramp toward 787. The vehicle left the roadway and launched 197 feet down into an embankment along 787 south.

New York State Police were investigating an unrelated crash nearby when officers spotted the crushed vehicle in dense brush along the highway. Sutherland was found crawling from the crash, and her two passengers, Jamilla N. Tirado, 27, Cepelynn T. Johnson, 25, were in the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Collision reconstruction specialists determined Sutherland was traveling 81 mph when she failed to navigate the turn onto the onramp and went airborne. A toxicology report later determined her BAC was .18 with active levels of cannabis in her system.

Johnson's mother, Tina Wade, spoke before sentencing and detailed how the tragedy has upended life for several families.

"I feel like I've been losing time, moving through days in a fog filled with emotional anxiety and deep depression," she said. "There are moments when I don't even recognize myself anymore. The grief is constant, heavy, and inescapable."

Tirado's sister, Jakeya Diggs, said the pain of her loss resonates daily.

"The one that has caused her death will reside behind bars, she will be taken away from her friends and family for a period of time, but she will one day return to them," Diggs said. "However, my sister is gone forever and no matter how many years go by she will forever remain 27. She was robbed of her life. A night of fun turned into lifetime of pain. Three tragic stories, three families torn apart by one person's careless actions."

Before sentencing, Sutherland apologized to the court and the families and said she prays for her two friends every day.

Assistant District Attorney Kayla Meagher of the Street Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case.