Woman Who ‘Showed No Remorse’ Sentenced to 275 Months for Fatal Crash That Killed 70-Year-Old Grandmother

A woman in Washington has been sentenced to spend two decades in prison for causing a deadly high-speed crash that killed a 7-year-old woman. Authorities said the accused showed no remorse towards the victim and fled the scene.

The 35-year-old woman, identified as Nicole Romanoff, pleaded guilty on April 27 to second-degree murder and vehicular assault. This was in connection with the 2024 incident where a speeding pursuit killed a 70-year-old woman identified as Gina Munna, according to court documents.

Following her plea, Thurston County Superior Judge Christine Schaller immediately ordered Romanoff to serve 275 months in prison, a sentence just under 23 years in a state correctional facility. Her sentence was followed by three years of community custody.

Several of Munna’s friends and family members urged the court to impose the harshest penalty possible during the hearing on April 27. They also described the devastating impact of her death. “Please deliver accountability today,” Munna’s niece said, adding that the family has struggled not with “what if she had stopped for police,” but with whether Romanoff would ever be held responsible, according to a report by Seattle-based ABC affiliate KOMO.

A prosecutor similarly argued for a lengthy sentence, pointing to Romanoff’s extensive criminal history, which included dozens of prior arrests and a prolonged police pursuit.

A Washington State patrol trooper wrote in the arrest report that Romanoff “showed absolutely no remorse for her actions,” and “never asked how the injured victims were doing,” the station reported.

The judge ultimately imposed a sentence that exceeded the prosecutor's recommendation, explaining that Romanoff’s action showed a clear disregard for human life and directly led to Munna’s death.

“The court finds it difficult to believe that your thought process was, police can’t pursue vehicles that flee, so I am going to flee,” the judge said. “You were already speeding when the law enforcement saw you. If you thought they would stop following you, you quickly learned that was not the case because they continued to pursue you,” the judge added.

In additional remarks from the bench, Judge Schaller emphasized that Romanoff’s actions only ended because of the crash itself.

The case stems from events that took place on September 7, 2024, when Romanoff was reportedly walking through a neighborhood asking strangers where she could purchase fentanyl. She was later seen getting into a stolen pickup truck and driving away. Roughly 40 minutes later, the police attempted a traffic stop, where Romanoff accelerated.