Jayana Webb: Drunk driver, her mother and bar sued by widow of state trooper Branden Sisca who was killed in 2022 DUI crash
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: The wife of a state trooper Branden T Sisca, who was one of three people killed by a DUI driver on I-95 in 2022, has filed a lawsuit against the driver, the driver’s mother, the owners of the hookah lounge where she drank alcohol during the night of the crash, as per NBC 10.
Jayana Webb, 23, pleaded guilty to hitting Pennsylvania State Troopers Martin F Mack III, and Branden T Sisca, as well as Reyes Rivera Oliveras, 28, on Interstate 95 near the Broad Street exit in Philadelphia on March 21, 2022.
Jayana Webb's alcohol level at the time of incident was twice the legal limit
In November 2023, Webb got a prison sentence of at least 27 years. Due to her pregnancy, Webb's jail sentence was postponed even though she entered a guilty plea to three charges of third-degree murder, three counts of homicide by vehicle while operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and one count of driving under the influence.
Her sentencing is scheduled to take place this month. For context, the crash occurred around 12:40 am in the southbound lanes of I-95 near Lincoln Financial Field on March 21, 2022.
NBC10 reported that the troopers had just stopped Webb when they got a call regarding a man who was strolling on the roadway. After responding to the man, they departed from Webb. Oliveras was seen by the two troopers strolling along the highway. A driver, who authorities identified as Webb, pulled up to the scene and attempted to utilize the highway shoulder to avoid them as they were trying to get him into their car.
Webb hit all three men, police said. The impact was so great that it threw the two troopers and Oliveras into the northbound lanes of I-95, police said.
Police said Webb remained at the scene, her car badly damaged, and was later taken into custody. Her alcohol level at the time was twice the legal limit of .08 BAC, according to police.
According to the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, Webb told police during a post-Miranda Rights statement in March 2022 that she had been drinking "strawberry Henny," before the crash, which is a reference to Hennessy Cognac.
Widow of Branden T Sisca sues Webb, her mother, and bar
On Monday, February 5, 2024, Brittany Sisca, the widow of Branden Sisca, filed a lawsuit against Webb, Webb’s mother, and the owners and managers of Vibe Hookah Lounge, a restaurant and bar that operated on the 100 block of W Chelten Avenue in Philadelphia.
According to the lawsuit, Webb was at the lounge the evening of the tragic collision. The lawsuit claimed that the club was offering food, hookah, wine, and marijuana to customers—including Webb, illegally since it lacked a liquor license or permission.
"This hookah lounge was operating without a license to serve food, without a license to serve alcohol,” Jordan Howell, an attorney for Sisca, told NBC10. “On the night of this incident, they served defendant Webb about four Hennessy drinks. She had a shot. She had mixed drinks.”
The lawsuit also states that employees at the bar continued to serve Webb alcohol that night despite her being visibly intoxicated.
"The Vibe Lounge Defendants, by and through their agents, servants, workers and employees, willfully and unlawfully served and continued to serve alcoholic beverages to Defendant Webb while Defendant Webb was in a visibly intoxicated condition, in direct violation of Pennsylvania Dram Shop Act, 44 P.S. when they knew, or had reason to know, that Defendant Webb constituted a risk of harm to themselves and to others by virtue of being intoxicated,” the lawsuit states.
“The negligent sale of alcoholic beverages by the Vibe Lounge Defendants to Defendant Webb was a direct and proximate cause of Branden Sisca’s catastrophic injuries and death," it further read.
The lounge, however, closed permanently a few days after the deadly crash.
The lawsuit also names Webb’s mother, who attorneys say owned the vehicle her daughter was driving the night of the crash.
