In newly-released police reports, Lisa Core admitted to taking multiple prescription medications 30 minutes before a Dec. 8 crash on Panama Lane that killed two siblings on a sidewalk.
Core, 46, told investigators she took two capsules of Klonopin, one capsule of gabapentin and 100 mg of Seroquel, according to court documents.
“I just went out of it while I was driving,” Core told police in the documents. “I didn’t even know what I was doing….(unintelligible).”
The drugs are central nervous system depressants that investigators note can have intensified side effects — including dizziness, drowsiness and impaired psychomotor skills — when used in combination.
“I think the medicine had me drowsy,” Core said according to the documents. “I might have like, nodded off or something because I’m a very good driver. I am always vigilant. I’m a very defensive driver.”
Core’s car went over the sidewalk on Panama Lane and hit the siblings then continued traveling and struck a wall and tree, police said. The siblings, JJ Malone, 19, and Caylee Brown, 10, were pronounced dead at the scene.
A dog was also hit and died.
Next due in court Jan. 11, Core faces life in prison if convicted of charges including second-degree murder. She’s held without bail.
Core has two prior DUI convictions, one in 2010 and another in 2013.
Witnesses reported a car traveling westbound at about 1:15 p.m. in the 1400 block of Panama Lane veered into opposing lanes and onto the sidewalk. One witness told police the driver began gathering pill bottles afterward “as if she was attempting to hide them,” and a beer can lay on the ground nearby.
Core’s car was stuck between a brick wall and a wooden telephone pole, according to the filings. She told an officer she had lost consciousness.
“As Officer Moreno was speaking with Core he observed she appeared to be disoriented and was attempting to gather her prescription medications which were thrown about the interior of the vehicle from the collision,” the reports say.
Taken to Kern Medical, Core had difficulty staying awake and slurred her speech, police say in the documents. She told an officer she ingested pills 30 minutes before the crash.
Interviewed several hours after the crash, Core still appeared to have trouble staying awake, the filings say.
When asked what medication she took that day, Core said, “Dove Body Wash.” Asked what she meant, Core said she used Dove Body Wash to wash her body, the filings say.
The last location she recalled while driving was when she went past Valley Plaza mall, Core told police. She remembered feeling happy and smiling.
An investigator told her the crash occurred on Panama Lane, and Core said she had been driving to a Walmart to purchase ink for her printer, according to the documents.
Core said doctors never told her not to combine Klonopin and Seroquel.
“That explains what happened. I must have fallen asleep,” she said according to the documents. “For me to have wrecked like that I had to have fallen asleep because of my medication.”
She admitted driving on a license suspended in 2012 or 2013 because she submitted a late payment for a court-imposed fine, the filings say.
Asked what she’d say to the family of the siblings, Core said she’d tell them she was sorry, according to the documents.
“I would wanna tell them I’m a good person and I’m a Christian and I would never want to hurt anybody,” she said according to the filings.
She added, “When do I get a chance to get a lawyer before I say anything else?”