MENOMONIE, Wis. (Court TV) — A teenager who admitted to hitting and killing a runner while driving drunk offered an apology in court at her sentencing before a judge sent her to prison.
Addison Bowell stands in court on Oct. 28, 2026. (Court TV)
Addison Bowell, 18, was 17 when she hit and killed Ann Seidl, 54, who was running in the early morning of March 29, 2025. Bowell’s mother, who found the victim unresponsive in a ditch, called 911 to report that her daughter had come home drunk an hour earlier, Law&Crime previously reported. Bowell said she initially didn’t realize she had hit a person and later pleaded guilty to all the charges she faced, including homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and hit-and-run involving death.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, prosecutors played video from officers’ body-worn cameras after they arrived at Bowell’s home to question her. Still drunk, she told officers, “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why you’re here.”
Officer: How did [the car] get smashed up?
Bowell: Probably hit something.
Officer: What did you hit?
Bowell: I don’t know.
When officers asked what Bowell had been drinking, she responded, “Probably everything,” and “It doesn’t matter what I was drinking. Completely besides the point.” Officers pressed Bowell about what she had hit with her car. She replied, “I don’t know what I hit, and I don’t really care.”
Prosecutors also played videos Bowell had sent to her friends after arriving home with her damaged car, showing the victim’s hair band still hanging from the vehicle. Bowell appears to laugh as she tells her friend, “My door doesn’t open!”
“This is all just a big joke,” prosecutor Andrea Nodolf said of Bowell’s response to the crash. “While the defendant can change, and I certainly hope that she does change, the only thing that these videos and her past records demonstrate is a desire for her to fulfill her own selfish needs and a complete and utter disregard for others.”
Seidl’s family urged the judge to impose a maximum sentence. “People stop when they hit a deer; she did not stop for my mother,” Seidl’s eldest son said. “By the time anyone found my mother in that ditch, the defendant had been home for nearly an hour. We will never know if my mother could have been saved because of that heartless decision to flee.”
Seidl’s ex-husband also asked the judge to send the defendant to prison. “I’m worried that a short sentence will tell everyone this was a mistake,” he said. “This was not a mistake. This was a choice. It was a choice to attend, it was a choice to drink, it was a choice to drive and it was a choice to leave her.”
While prosecutors recommended 20 years in prison, Bowell’s attorney, Michael Cohen, urged the judge to consider a sentence of just seven years. “She made it clear she was accepting responsibility. I’m not sure what other actions of responsibility or remorse can be done to express that,” Cohen said. “I don’t know what else people expect: to have someone express remorse or contrition for things that have happened. We don’t have H.G. Wells’ time machine. We’re not going back in time. We’re not making this not happen. So all we can do is react to that.”
Bowell addressed the court and apologized to the victim’s family. “I want everyone to know that I regret this mistake every day of my life,” she said. “I know that my words cannot undo what happened but I hope that with my actions moving forward I can show that I am committed to learning to become a better person.”
“I don’t necessarily agree with anyone’s recommendation,” Judge Christina Mayer said as she began to pronounce the sentence. Mayer sentenced Bowell to nine years in prison, followed by seven years of extended supervision, with credit for 578 days served. While on extended supervision, Bowell will not be allowed to have any alcohol or drugs and cannot be inside any bars or taverns. “It’s easy to be sober in jail,” Mayer said. “It’s hard to be sober out and about.”
