Whitney Weddel, an alumna and teacher at the San Antonio school district, was fatally hit head-on in February 2024.
SAN ANTONIO — Two years after a beloved San Antonio schoolteacher was killed in a head-on crash, the woman who behind the wheel of the car that slammed into her learned her punishment.
Giovanna Rose Blangiardo, 38, was charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with the February 2024 death of Whitney Brooke Weddel. Online court records show Blangiardo took a plea deal on Monday and was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Blangiardo was taken into custody at the scene after authorities said she hit Weddel, 39, while driving on the wrong side of Potranco Road on the far west side. Weddel was rushed to the hospital and later died.
She left behind a legacy as a beloved educator who motivated and encouraged her students at East Central ISD.
“I love what I do; I can’t picture doing anything but teaching,” Weddel previously told KENS 5 in 2022.
She was also a graduate of East Central ISD. After her death, administrators called her an “exceptional” teacher whose “impact was far-reaching and will continue for generations to come as she has dozens of former students working as healthcare professionals across our city.”
Weddel’s mother, Monique Presas, said her daughter was in the process of crafting the first nursing curriculum for IDEA schools and had just launched a mental health podcast when she was killed. Presas has since dedicated much of her free time to working with organizations to stop drunk driving.
Blangiardo was released a few days after the crash after posting bail. In addition to her prison sentence, she was ordered to pay $490 in fines.