Sleeping Va. Driver Convicted In Crash

Andrew Carroll, an attorney for Riley, said his client does not remember doing that. He said Riley regularly uses sleep aids because he has had problems sleeping for five years.

More recently, he said, Riley has occasionally walked in his sleep. His fiancee has found him awake in their apartment, cooking and talking incoherently at times.

On the day of the crash, Riley came home early from work and took a high dosage of Ambien "because he just wanted to make sure he went to sleep," Carroll said.

"He left the apartment in his sleep clothes, sweats and a T-shirt. Next thing he knows, he's in jail," Carroll said.

A few blocks away, Gebrkidan's car was parked along the curb on Taney Avenue. Her sister's car was parked in the road with its hazard lights on next to hers. Gebrkidan, now 33, was loading packages for her 6-year-old son's birthday party the next day from her sister's car into hers.

Suddenly, Riley's Honda came down the street and veered toward the curb without braking, hitting Gebrkidan and throwing her onto the car's windshield. It is unclear how fast Riley was driving in the 25 mph zone.

Gebrkidan's right leg was also severely injured, according to court documents and prosecutors. She was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where she suffered a stroke several days later, Gebrkidan's husband, Mengis Haile, said yesterday. He said Gebrkidan remained hospitalized for several months and returned home from a rehabilitation center only three weeks ago. She requires constant medical care.

"She is angry. She is thinking about when she was walking, but she has come a long way," Haile said of his wife, a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Eritria in 1994. Gebrkidan used to sell hot dogs at the Crystal City Metro station and used to work part time at a drugstore.