48 Hours - Driven to Extremes

Mary Hill was driving her daughter, Amy, and two friends, Carrie Brown and Zak Rockwell, when her car crashed into a tree. Amy and Carrie died and Zak suffered brain injuries. Hill claimed she lost control when her car sped up on its own, but investigators suspected that Hill was driving recklessly and charged with vehicular homicide and manslaughter. “48 Hours" Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/13/2005. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

Duration: 39m
Broadcast on: 19 Nov 2025
Audio Format: other

[MUSIC PLAYING] Just five minutes before they were alive. Five minutes later, your life changes, like you never thought that it could change. I saw a BMW and I thought, well, what happened here? And it suddenly dawned on me. It looks like my car. I called 911. There was nothing that any person on Earth could have done. I've driven it street thousands of times. I have been a good driver my whole life. But I could not stop that car. You had enough time for the world to go quiet to think, why won't you stop? A Seminole County mother plowed into a tree. I knew I had to get to the children. She lost control of the car on. I could not, for an instant, think that they were gone. Two girls died on their way home from the very first day of school. It was just the most horrible experience I could ever imagine. The mother of one of them was behind the wheel. Those girls had everything to live for. Why couldn't I have died? My daughter is gone because of Mary Hill. A mother charged with crashing into a tree. I want answers. Why was she driving so fast? Nils attorneys blame the car. A car like that just doesn't run into a tree. I knew that something like this was going to happen. Mary Hill needs to be held accountable for her action. She is charged with vehicular homicide. It was like a time bomb. Just waiting for the time bomb to go off.

Driven to extremes. When I play to her each night, I just hope that she's listening. This is Dennis Hill's nightly ritual. It just helps me to say goodnight every night. This song is appropriately entitled "Forgotten Dreams." I just see how hollow my life is now. And I never thought that I would experience that in my lifetime.

In August 2000, Dennis Hill lost his 13-year-old daughter, Amy, in a tragic accident. How would you describe your daughter? I believe that the reason I was born was to have Amy. Amy just had this capacity for love for everyone. Before the accident, Dennis and Mary Hill

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