Lynda Mescher of Spicewood received 20 years in prison Aug. 12 on several charges stemming from a Jan. 19, 2009, pickup truck accident at Grelle Recreation Area that killed an 11-year-old girl and injured several children.

Burnet County jurors sentenced Mescher, 48, to eight years for manslaughter, four years for injury to a child with serious bodily injury and two years in prison for each of four charges of injury to a child.
During closing arguments, her attorney, Eddie Shell, asked the jury to consider probation because Mescher had no previous criminal history and has volunteered in her community for years, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
“This is a good woman who deserves a second chance,” Shell told the jury.
Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Nelson asked the jury to consider jail time for Mescher because the accident could have been prevented, according to the Statesman.
“She made choices, and continued to make choices, that put these children in the highest of danger,” Nelson told the jury.
Mescher entered her plea of guilty Aug. 10 after months of court proceedings that detailed the wreck that killed Bee Cave Elementary School student Brianna Plehn of Briarcliff and injured her brother, Dylan, 8. Megan Proctor, also 11, was seriously injured, suffering a collapsed lung.
The children were at a weekend camping trip at Silver’s Trails, Mescher’s horse-riding ranch when the truck she was driving flipped over at Grelle Recreation Facility.
The police report stated the accident victims “that while riding in the bed of the pickup and while inside the Grelle Recreational Area, Ms. Mescher was driving fast enough to cause them to fear for their safety.”
Victims reportedly told police that Mescher had already made two sharp right turns that scared two of the children before a sharp right turn caused the left front tire to dig into the loose dirt and send the truck into a roll. The truck rolled one and a half times and all six children were thrown from the bed.
Mescher voluntarily surrendered herself to the Burnet County Sheriff’s office Jan 26, 2009.
“Lynda first wishes to express her deepest sorrow for the family of Brianna Plehn. Lynda is 47 years old. She has two children of her own and for many years she has assisted children with horseback riding. Prior to this, Lynda has not had any criminal charges of any nature against her,” Shell said in a statement at the time.
She was indicted in May 2009 but pleaded not guilty to the charges that July.