A 34-year-old woman recently pleaded not guilty to allegations that her negligence caused a February car crash that resulted in the death of five people in Thornton, Colorado. Prosecutors charged the woman with child abuse and five counts of criminally-negligent homicide.

According to court documents, the woman was driving in Thornton on February 17, 2011 when her car hit a median. The collision sent her car flying into a sport utility vehicle containing a family of five. The car accident killed all five people in the other vehicle.

The woman told police she cannot remember the accident. Both her children were in the car at the time of the accident. She also confessed she has a seizure disorder, according to court documents. The woman told police she had a seizure in a grocery store in 2006 and passed out.

The doctor she saw following the incident told her she should not drive a vehicle until she saw a neurologist, according to court documents. The woman said she could not afford to see a specialist, so she never went.

The woman also admitted to police officers that she had a seizure in a parking lot and passed out six months before the accident. She said dehydration caused the incident, and she did not see a doctor. A doctor with the Colorado Neurological Institute said the accident might have been preventable. If the woman had been treated for the seizure disorder, it likely would have been under control.

If she is convicted of all five counts of negligent homicide and child abuse, the woman could spend up to 30 years in prison. Toxicology reports indicate she was not using drugs or alcohol when the crash occurred.

Source: 9 News NBC, "Driver in wreck that killed 5 -- Monica Chavez -- pleads not guilty," Anastasiya Bolton, Blair Shiff, Christina Dickinson and Nelson Garcia, Dec.19, 2011.