A Lady Lake woman is facing a DUI manslaughter charge more than a year after a crash in Weirsdale left one person dead and three others with serious injuries. Lauren Jean Carlton was booked into the Marion County Jail on three counts of DUI with serious bodily injury alongside the manslaughter charge, with her arrest coming over a year after the crash itself occurred.
According to the Ocala StarBanner, Carlton was booked on Oct. 23 in connection with a crash that happened on Oct. 11, 2025, in Weirsdale. She appeared Saturday for a first-appearance hearing held at the Marion County Jail before Circuit Judge Stacy Youmans, who serves on the bench of the State of Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit.
The StarBanner reported that Carlton’s pickup crossed the double yellow line and collided head-on with a Toyota. Witnesses and DNA results pointed to Carlton as the driver, and the report said her blood-alcohol content was 0.204.
What Florida Law Says About the Charges
Under Florida Statute 316.193, DUI is defined as driving while impaired or with a blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level of at least 0.08. Causing serious bodily injury to someone while driving under the influence is charged as a third-degree felony under that same statute, while causing a death while driving under the influence constitutes DUI manslaughter. A conviction on the DUI manslaughter charge carries a mandatory minimum prison term of four years under state law.
Carlton’s case follows an earlier DUI case in Marion County. In one earlier case, a 21-year-old man named James Carter faced DUI charges tied to a February crash that killed a 50-year-old Ocala woman, according to ClickOrlando.
Earlier DUI Cases in Marion County
Earlier this year, an Ocklawaha man accused in a late-2025 death turned himself in at the Marion County Jail on March 5, where he was booked that morning, the StarBanner separately reported.
Separately, WCJB reported that a Weirsdale man died in a single-vehicle crash on Aug. 23, though that report does not indicate any connection to the October 2025 crash tied to Carlton’s charges. The StarBanner reported that Carlton’s bail was set at $62,000, her attorney was Leroy Costner, and her next court date was Nov. 24 at 9 a.m.
