FARMINGTON — A Livermore Falls woman pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of manslaughter from a head-on crash that killed a Livermore woman on state Route 4 in North Jay in 2022.

Trisha Payeur, 43, entered an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to enter a guilty plea while maintaining their innocence. She also pleaded guilty to reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, namely cocaine, also by Alford pleas.

Of the eight-count indictment in November 2023, two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and three counts of driving to endanger were dismissed in the plea agreement. She also pleaded guilty to a charge of violation of conditions of release stemming from her arrest in court Monday when she tested positive for drugs, including cocaine. 

Trisha Payeur Franklin County Detention Center photo

Payeur is being held without bail until her sentencing Sept. 25 at the Farmington court, where Rich’s family will be allowed to speak if they wish.

A conviction for manslaughter is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

The recommended sentence by the state and the defense is 12 years with all but three years and eight months suspended, and four years of probation.

The recommended sentence on the reckless conduct charge is one year; on the cocaine possession charge it is 364 days in jail and a $400 fine, both to be served at the same time as the manslaughter sentence. A concurrent sentence of six months will be recommended for the violation of conditions of release.

Justice Nancy Mills directed a sheriff’s deputy to take Payeur into custody prior to the plea being heard. She was released on $1,000 bail Wednesday on the violation of condition of release charge, but was supposed to be held without bail on the manslaughter and related charges.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mador read through the state’s evidence that would have been presented at trial.

A driver following Payeur’s SUV north on state Route 4 in Livermore Falls called 911 to report erratic driving, Mador said.

Witnesses would tell the court that Payeur’s vehicle crossed the centerline into the southbound lane in North Jay, slamming head-on into an SUV driven by Gaylene Rich, 69, who died of her injuries enroute to the hospital.

A Maine State Police reconstruction report said Payeur’s vehicle was going 57 mph in a 50 mph zone five seconds before the crash. A half-second before the crash Payeur’s vehicle was going 63 mph, Mador said. Based on reconstruction calculations, Rich’s vehicle was going 30.3 mph when they collided, Mador said.

Medical tests would show that Payeur had cocaine in her system, and there was a vial of cocaine found in her vehicle, Mador said.

Payeur also made a statement that she had fallen asleep while driving about 18 times, Mador said.

That was the subject of a hearing Monday on a motion to suppress evidence, which came to an end with the guilty plea.