A woman convicted of murder in a drunken-driving crash that killed a District Attorney’s Office investigator last year should spend at least 15 years in prison, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge James Rigali ruled today.

Ashley Johnigan, 24, who lived in Santa Barbara at the time of the May 1, 2008 crash in the Santa Ynez Valley, was sentenced today in a Santa Maria courtroom.

The crash killed 53-year-old Santa Ynez resident Laura Cleaves, a senior investigator with the District Attorney’s Office.

Johnigan drank heavily before the head-on collision on Highway 154 near the intersection with Highway 246.

In September, a Santa Maria jury found Johnigan guilty of murder, vehicular manslaughter and two misdemeanor drunken-driving counts.

Jurors acquitted Johnigan of a special allegation that her actions caused serious injuries to more than one person, regarding a third driver who was involved in the crash.

The murder charge carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, and sentences were stayed for the other counts.