Jacklyn Parker (left) and Colleen Selkirk.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A New York woman who caused a fatal head-on crash while off her anti-seizure medication will spend years in prison.

Jacklyn Parker, 25, of Troy, was given 1 ⅓ to four years behind bars in Albany County Court on Monday, Nov. 24. A planned lighter sentence was scrapped after Parker was later arrested on suspicion of DWI while awaiting sentencing.

Monday’s sentence followed Parker’s guilty plea to criminally negligent homicide for the August 19, 2024, crash on River Road in Selkirk that killed 60-year-old Colleen Selkirk.

Investigators said Parker crossed the center line and struck an oncoming vehicle, killing Selkirk at the scene. Parker and her passenger were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Parker told police she had gone more than a week without taking her prescribed anti-seizure medication, despite her doctor specifically warning her not to drive without it.

Parker was originally expected to receive a sentence of 1 to 3 years, but that changed after she was arrested again this fall, as Daily Voice reported. She was stopped on I-87 in Menands on Saturday, Sept. 27, and found to have a 0.13% blood alcohol content, according to New York State Police.

She was charged with DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation, and several traffic offenses. The arrest occurred while she was out on release awaiting sentencing in the homicide case.

Selkirk, a Hannacroix resident and longtime human resources coordinator at SUNY Polytechnic in Albany, was remembered as “a bright light” who was heavily involved with her church, according to her obituary.

She is survived by her parents, her husband, two daughters, and two grandchildren.

“She was a lover of gardening, music, and the outdoors… and was loved by so many,” her family wrote.

Parker was taken into custody immediately following sentencing.