MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A Martin County judge has handed down back-to-back, consecutive prison terms totaling nearly 29 years for a woman who pleaded guilty to striking and killing a bicyclist and then fleeing the scene with the victim’s bike still wedged onto her car.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger firmly denied a defense request for a downward departure, sentencing Elise Elder to 17 years in state prison for leaving the scene of a crash involving death, with credit for one day served. That sentence will be served consecutively to a 145.5-month, over 12 years, term for DUI manslaughter, which will be followed by one year of probation, Level 1 DUI School, a $10,000 fine, and a permanent, lifetime revocation of her driver’s license.
“It is clear that you are an intelligent woman, but I have to tell you that it’s extremely difficult to line up what others said about you with what happened on the morning of June 28, 2024,” Metzger told Elder, noting a mandatory four-year minimum applies.
“Making a decision to leave him in the road, leaving the scene, leaving with Mr. Drummond’s bicycle, and then you decide to go home,” said Metzger.
You made these choices, no one else did.”
The long-awaited sentencing brings a close to a devastating case that began on June 28, 2024, on the 10-Cent Bridge in Sewall’s Point. Investigators revealed a harrowing timeline showing Elder chose to get behind the wheel and drive for hours from Daytona Beach down to Martin County. Florida Highway Patrol lead investigator Sergeant William Fenton testified that vehicle data proved Elder never stopped her car after striking local cyclist Martin Drummond at 6:45 a.m.
Blood alcohol tests later revealed Elder’s BAC was a staggering .329 roughly two hours after the fatal crash. The state also presented police bodycam video to the courtroom showing Elder at her home shortly after the incident, where she lied to officers and her family, claiming that the cyclist had actually crashed into her.
During the emotional hearing, Elder’s attorney, Adam Less, fought for limited incarceration followed by extensive probation, utilizing expert testimony from a clinical psychologist.
Less argued that Elder had since been diagnosed with severe PTSD and depression brought on by the trauma of the crash, and claimed the Florida Department of Corrections would be unable to provide the necessary level of care for her suicidal thoughts. Elder took the stand herself, weeping as she told the courtroom she could never forgive herself and questioned why she wasn’t the one who died that day.
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Prosecutors pushed back against the defense’s framing, arguing that a downward departure did not fit the cold facts of the hit-and-run.
“Taking an innocent life should be traumatic,” Prosecutor Kristen Chase countered, arguing that Elder’s PTSD was a direct result of her own criminal choices.
It’s like starting a fire and complaining you got burned in the process.”
The maximum impact of those choices was laid bare by Drummond’s grieving family, who described the lost patriarch as a reliable leader, a “fun grandpa,” and a shepherd to the community. While Drummond’s widow, Lori, offered a statement of scriptural forgiveness, other family members demanded the absolute maximum penalty.
A Martin County judge has handed down back-to-back, consecutive prison terms totaling nearly 29 years for a woman who pleaded guilty to killing a bicyclist (WPEC)
In denying the defense’s plea for leniency, Judge Metzger agreed that the pain inflicted on the family was absolute, stating:
There were more than ripple effects; there was, in essence, a tsunami.”