Yulee woman charged with DUI manslaughter after leaving passenger who fell out of car and died

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — According to police, 23-year-old Ashley Collum was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter, DUI involving death, and failure to stop and render aid after a passenger in the back seat of her car fell out at Duck Lake Drive and Merlin Drive in the Nassauville area and died Saturday night.

TRENDING: 

A press release from the Nassau County Sheriff's Office said that after Collum left a party with two passengers in her black Chevrolet Cobalt, witnesses saw a woman in the back seat open the door and fall out of the car. They said the vehicle kept driving and left the scene, so they called 911.

A deputy arrived shortly afterward and said the woman was facedown in the road, bleeding from her nose and mouth. Paramedics pronounced her dead when they arrived.

According to the police report, the passenger in the front seat of the car said it was not unusual for the woman who was in the back seat to get angry and try to jump out of a moving car, she had done it before. The witness said that's why they kept driving after the woman fell out.

Witnesses who were driving nearby told deputies they saw the woman in the back seat of Collum's car open and close the door without getting out while at a stop sign. Once the car was moving, they watched the woman open the door and fall out headfirst onto the road.

Collum was arrested early Sunday morning and booked into the Nassau County Jail. Her bail was set at $750,004.

Records show that Collum was observed for at least 20 minutes prior to the administration of a breath test. This was to ensure that she did not take anything orally and did not throw up, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The Intoxilyzer operator's observation shows that Collum's eyes were bloodshot, her face was flushed and her speech was slurred at the time of her breath test. The first alcohol test yielded a blood alcohol content of 0.136, and her second a 0.146.

Collum told police she had five to six beers that night: three to four at Hammerhead Beach bar and two at a friend's house. Collum additionally told police that "she should not have been driving," and that "it's never OK to drive like that," the field sobriety report shows.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories

Cox Media Group