OCEAN CITY — A Maryland appeals court last month denied a bid by a Pennsylvania woman to overturn her criminally negligent manslaughter conviction for the death of her 12-year-old child in a crash on the Salisbury bypass.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals denied an appeal filed by Tabitha Dobrzynski, now 41, who was convicted in 2013 of criminally negligent manslaughter in the death of her 12-year-old daughter in an accident on Route 50 and the Salisbury bypass on Aug. 5, 2012. Dobrzynski was heading from West Virginia to Ocean City in a Jeep Wrangler with her four children, one of which, the 12-year-old victim, was not restrained by a seatbelt.

Dobrzynski, had been awake for 28 hours and on the road for 14 hours while popping a variety of painkillers and other prescription medications when she rolled the Jeep multiple times on the Salisbury bypass on the way to Ocean City. She was convicted of criminally negligent manslaughter and sentenced to three years in jail, but appealed the conviction asserting she did not understand the implications of the combination of medications she had taken during the trip. The Court of Special Appeals denied the appeal and upheld the conviction handed down by the Wicomico County Circuit Court.

The Court of Appeals opinion paints a chilling account of the events leading up to the tragic accident, including a trek through three states for 14 hours in what should have been a roughly four-hour trip to Ocean City. According to the accepted facts of the case, Dobrzynski was with her four children at their grandparents’ home in Big Bear Lake, W.Va. on Aug. 4. The family awoke around 10:30 a.m. that day and enjoyed a full day of outdoor activities around the lake and its water park.

The plan was for Dobrzynski and her four children to return to their New Kensington, Pa. home the morning of the next day, a roughly two-hour trip. However, around midnight that night, Dobrzynski made the ill-fated decision to pack up her family and head to Ocean City instead of making the relatively easy trip back to Pennsylvania the following morning.

The 13-year-old son testified at trial he had to constantly talk to his mother to keep her awake and correct her driving mistakes. A few hours into the trip, Dobrzynkski was clearly lost, stopped for directions several times and back-tracked toward West Virginia and even deep into Pennsylvania. At 7:30 a.m. on Aug.5, over seven hours into the trip, the family stopped for breakfast in Breezewood, Pa. still several hours from their final destination in Ocean City. At that point, they were close to home and should have ended the marathon trip through three states, but Dobrzynski was determined to continue on to Ocean City.

Dobrzynski ultimately righted her direction and was on her way to Ocean City with her four children in tow about 14 hours into the trip. A short time before the accident, Dobrzynski stopped in Easton for something to drink before continuing on to Ocean City. Around 2:30 p.m., she rolled the Jeep multiple times on the Salisbury bypass.

When Maryland State Police arrived, Dobrzynski was sitting on the curb with her son. She told police initially she was driving from West Virginia to Pennsylvania, but when pressed on why she was in Salisbury, she recanted and said she was trying to get to Ocean City. The investigation revealed along with being awake for 28 hours and driving for 14 hours, she had taken two Vicodin at 5:30 a.m. on the fateful morning. A few hours later at 10:30 a.m., she had taken two Soma pills, one Prozac and one Oxycodone.

“From the beginning of the trip until the time it came to its tragic ending over 14 hours later, Ms. Dobrzynski was a very confused driver, making several wrong turns and spending many hours stopping to ask directions and having to back-track in order to find the correct route,” the opinion reads. “At 7:30 a.m., when an attentive driver would have already reached the Atlantic coast, she was having breakfast in an off-route location, Breezewood, Pennsylvania. A reasonable person would have decided to head home to New Kensington, Pa. for some rest, postponing the unplanned beach trip for a better day, rather than continuing to attempt to head eastbound.”

Under the facts of the case laid out in the opinion, the Court of Appeals denied Dobrzynski’s attempt to overturn her conviction.

“Given that Ms. Dobrzynski’s repeated need to ask directions and turn around, combined with the constant attempts by her son to keep her alert and attentive, she had to be aware of her own state of confusion and fatigue,” the opinion reads. “Then, already in a condition in which no reasonable person would undertake a long distance drive with four children, Ms. Dobrzynski chose to consume several highly sedative prescription medications. Her failure to perceive the substantial and unjustifiable risk created by her own conduct was a gross deviation from the standard of care an ordinary person would have exercised.”