Prince George's County man gets 10 years in deadly Bladensburg crash

A Prince George’s County judge sentenced Sunday Joseph to 10 years in prison for a Bladensburg crash that turned a 6-year-old girl’s birthday party into a fatal scene of wreckage, grief and long-term trauma.

Joseph, 67, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving a death and 14 counts of reckless driving after the Oct. 18, 2025 crash on Annapolis Road, also known as Maryland Route 450, near 56th Avenue. Prosecutors said Joseph backed his vehicle into the front yard of a home where a tent had been set up for the party, pinning people underneath and sending the celebration into chaos. Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez, 31, died, and 14 other people were hurt.

The county’s Jan. 23 indictment charged Joseph with 36 offenses, including grossly negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle, three counts of hit-and-run involving serious bodily injury, 11 counts of failure to return and remain at the scene involving bodily injury, and 11 counts of reckless driving. Prosecutors said the manslaughter count carried a maximum sentence of 10 years, the same term imposed by Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Dorothy M. Engel. Court records also show Engel ordered supervised probation after prison, along with alcohol testing and treatment if needed and a ban on driving.

Family members filled the courtroom for the sentencing hearing, and 14 people spoke, according to court coverage. Survivors and relatives described PTSD, depression and nightmares, and some parents said their children now connect birthday parties with the crash. The pain was not limited to the day of the collision. WTOP reported that 12 people were hospitalized and three needed surgery, while eight of the injured were children.

Prosecutors said witnesses reported smelling alcohol, but Joseph was gone for about 10 hours before police could test him. He left the scene on foot with the car keys, then turned himself in the next morning. State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said the guilty plea and sentence could not undo the physical and emotional injuries suffered by the survivors.

The case left Prince George’s County with a blunt measure of accountability. A 10-year sentence matched the top punishment for the manslaughter count, but it did not erase the damage done to a family gathering in Bladensburg or the grief carried by Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez’s relatives, injured children and the adults who watched the party collapse in seconds.