A Vancleave woman has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to causing a drunken-driving crash that killed a man on Biloxi’s Popps Ferry Bridge.
Katelyn Anita Posey, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday to felony DUI causing death. Judge Randi P. Mueller sentenced her to 25 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with 12 years suspended, leaving 13 years to serve.
According to Assistant District Attorney Mara Joffe, who prosecuted the case, the crash occurred around 8:38 p.m. on July 20, 2025.
Biloxi police responded to the bridge after Posey crossed into oncoming traffic while driving south. Witnesses told investigators she had been driving erratically, nearly striking several other vehicles before colliding head-on with a vehicle driven by Leonardo Ricco, 45.
Prosecutors said the impact was so severe that Ricco’s vehicle was pushed onto the concrete barrier of the bridge. He died at the scene from blunt force injuries.
Witnesses also told investigators that Posey appeared confused and had slurred speech after the crash. She later admitted to medical personnel that she had been drinking. A blood test performed at the hospital showed her blood alcohol concentration was 0.128%, above Mississippi’s legal limit of 0.08%.
According to prosecutors, Posey remembered drinking but said she could not recall driving that evening or the crash itself. She described the incident as an “irreversible decision” that continues to haunt her.
Before imposing the sentence, Mueller called the case one of the more difficult types the court must handle. After hearing from Ricco’s family, the judge described him as “an extraordinary man with an extraordinary impact.”
Mueller said that while Ricco’s life was lost in an “awful tragedy,” Posey still has the opportunity to change her own life.
“What you choose to do with that opportunity is important,” the judge said before sentencing Posey.