Latest news with #drunkDriving
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Family remembers daughter who died in 2021 crash as DUI case approaches end
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A mother who has waited years for justice after her daughter was killed in a 2021 crash by an accused drunk driver says a chapter is closing on the case. 24-year-old Hannah Parton and 47-year-old Arlene Velasquez were killed in the crash. 'We love you': Family of missing Albertville teen desperate for answers 'You know, she just was that soft-natured young lady that wanted everyone to do well,' Sheila Smith said about her daughter Hannah. Smith said the families waited almost a year to see movement in the case. In October 2022, Jacob Stephens was charged with reckless murder and driving under the influence. 'It's easy to get bitter,' Smith said. 'It's easy to feel like you're being ignored. It's just hard. You know, losing Hannah was hard enough. It's still so hard.' Stephens is set to go to trial next week, but it is possible he will never appear in front of a jury. Smith said the District Attorney's Office told her Stephens is expected to take a plea deal. 📲 to stay updated on the go. 📧 to have news sent to your inbox. 'I've also done a lot of research in three and a half years waiting for justice, and I feel like it's probably the best outcome,' Smith said. Smith said no amount of prison time Stephens could serve would bring her daughter back. After years of grief, she wants to find a sense of normalcy in her life, living each day for Hannah. 'A lot has been lifted after three and a half years of complete chaos and uncertainty,' Smith said. 'Heartbreak. The continued heartbreak. Yeah, it's nice to finally be able to put it to a close.' The Madison County District Attorney's Office told News 19 that plea discussions have focused on Stephens serving 30 years in prison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
16 hours ago
- The Independent
Woman who died after drink-driver fled police unlawfully killed, inquest finds
The heartbroken mother of a woman who died after a drunk driver fled from police at speeds of over 100mph has called for motorists who are involved in fatal crashes while under the influence to be stripped of their licences. The call was made by Debbie Clack on Friday after a coroner ruled that her daughter Lillie, 22, who was injured and died days after the crash in the early hours of Christmas Day 2021, was unlawfully killed. The kitchen designer, of Morden, south London, was among six people who squeezed into the overcrowded Mercedes driven by Charlie Hilton, 25, who was chased by police before the car hit a tree, flipped over and burst into flames in Carshalton. Assistant coroner for London South, Sebastian Naughton, said the evidence showed Hilton's actions could be considered as gross negligence as he fled police reaching over 100mph at some points in the chase, carried out an illegal U-turn and ran a red a light as passengers inside the car begged him to stop. After the finding sitting at South London Coroner's Court, Lillie's mother said: 'Lillie went through a horrific ordeal and we are continuing to live through this every day.' She added: 'Hilton killed my daughter. 'He pleaded guilty to causing her death by dangerous driving while more than twice the legal alcohol limit, running from the police, refusing to stop, losing control of his car, and crashing into a tree. 'That crash caused a bleed on Lillie's brain. Damage so severe that her heart stopped beating three days later on December 28 2021. She was just 22. My baby girl. 'If going through today's pain means something changes, if it shines a light on what went wrong and stops even one other family from feeling this kind of grief, then it was worth it. 'It cannot be right that any driver involved in a fatal crash gets to go home still carrying their licence in their pocket. It is also the case that too often those convicted of injuring people by their dangerous driving can one day return to the road. 'What happened to Lillie, her family, friends and the whole community, has to mean something. We all need to believe that lessons will be learned.' She is calling for lifetime driving bans for anyone convicted of causing death by dangerous driving while under the influence and tougher penalties for dangerous drivers. The friends had been enjoying a Winter Wonderland attraction and visited a pub in Morden before accepting a lift home from Hilton. Residents in Beeches Avenue, Carshalton grabbed fire extinguishers and rushed to help after the crash. In February 2023, Hilton was jailed at the Old Bailey for 10 years and six months after pleading guilty to causing Miss Clack's death by dangerous driving, three counts of causing serious injury, failing to stop when directed and driving above the alcohol limit. The coroner suggested Hilton 'possibly knew he was in trouble due to the number of people in his vehicle', that the U-turn was 'practically inviting the police to pursue' and he would have known he was over the alcohol limit to drive. He 'made no effort to ascertain' if his passengers were wearing their seatbelts. The coroner said: 'Mr Hilton was properly directed to stop by police and decided not to so. 'He decided to evade capture and drove at high speeds before the collision occurred.' In his findings the coroner said: 'Despite repeated requests from passengers throughout the pursuit to slow down or stop, the driver of the Mercedes would not stop or slow down after the police were no longer in pursuit of the Mercedes.' The Mercedes was travelling at approximately 70mph – in a 30mph speed zone – just seconds before the car went over a raised pedestrian crossing. The coroner said: 'The driver of the Mercedes lost control of the vehicle, was weaving before striking kerbs on both sides of the road and leaving the carriageway, striking a tree and the Mercedes. 'Lillie sustained serious chest and head injuries in the collision. 'Due to the severity of her injuries there was no possible surgical intervention. Lillie deteriorated and died on 28 December 2021. 'It is not possible to say if her injuries could have been mitigated if her seatbelt had been fastened.' Complications of a head injury was given as the cause of death in a post-mortem examination. Hilton had been told by his passengers that a police vehicle had turned its blue lights on behind them and was indicating for him to stop, the inquest heard. Instead, he sped up and was driving so fast that the passengers bumped their head on the roof of the car as they were chased by police. At one point Sergeant Alexander Gill said his police car was doing 90mph in a 40mph zone and Hilton's Mercedes was 'greatly getting away'. Police called off the chase, which lasted about three-and-a-half minutes, after losing sight of the Mercedes. Miss Clack's boyfriend Jack Watson and best friend Delia Casey were among those who were badly hurt. In a statement Mr Watson, who was in the back seat, remembered seeing police blue lights and sirens and described Hilton's driving as 'dangerous and quick' and thought he could 'easily lose control'. Mr Watson later recalled: 'I think I might have said 'Charlie what are you doing, why are you going so fast'. I think the girls were in shock.' He also remembered saying: 'Charlie, slow down. What are you doing? Let me and Lillie out.' He recalled Hilton telling him to shut up. Mr Watson does not remember the crash but does recall being pulled out on a stretcher and bleeding from his lip. He added: 'I remember asking 'where's Lillie?'. I remember being in an ambulance and blood on my jacket but I do not know where the blood came from. 'My clothing was cut off from me – and I knew then that it was bad.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Key takeaways from the acquittal of Karen Read in her Boston police officer boyfriend's death
Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer's home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O'Keefe was in fact killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year's probation. Though her criminal case is over, Read still faces civil litigation. O'Keefe's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her and two bars where the couple drank that night. The two trials were filled with moments that raised reasonable doubt, both in the public's mind and, as illustrated by Wednesday's verdict, the minds of jurors. Here are some key takeaways: The defense theory: Crooked cops and 'the blue wall of silence' Defense lawyers asserted from the beginning that there was no collision between O'Keefe and the 6,000-pound (2,700-kilogram) SUV driven by Read, arguing instead that a crew of tightly knit local and state cops were shielding one of their own and framing her. Lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after the first trial for misconduct, knew some people at the party at the house outside of which O'Keefe was found. Proctor sent text messages to friends, family and co-workers calling Read a 'whack job' while implying that she was the lone suspect and he wanted her to pay. 'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl ... Zero chance she skates. She's f'd,' he texted just hours into the investigation. A federal agent who was at the party, Brian Higgins, acknowledged at trial destroying his phone and SIM card afterward and disposing of them in two different locations on a military base. In another exchange, Jackson questioned a former officer who originally reported seeing Higgins and the Canton police chief near the SUV in a station garage, a statement she later recanted. 'Have you ever heard of something called the blue wall of silence?' Jackson asked the officer. In closing arguments, he suggested that she changed her story under pressure from the department. What the evidence showed the jury The prosecution's evidence included pieces of Read's broken taillight that were recovered at the scene; accounts of the couple's crumbling relationship, fueled by booze; and several witnesses testifying that they heard her repeatedly say, 'I hit him.' But defense lawyers portrayed the case as riddled with errors, missteps and malfeasance. They emphasized that the taillight fragments were not found immediately and argued that police had time to take them from Read's impounded vehicle and plant them. They also presented video evidence that Read's taillight could have been damaged instead when she hit O'Keefe's car at home later that morning. The shards, which the state claimed cut into O'Keefe's arm, had no blood, tissue or DNA on them. The only DNA found was on an intact piece of taillight on Read's SUV, and it contained three possible sources — O'Keefe and two unknown males. A hair traced to O'Keefe was found on the rear of the SUV, but the defense questioned how it could have stayed there through the blizzard. Prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Neither side produced witnesses who saw him enter into the house, but the defense was able to show a fight was possible. A medical expert testified that wounds on his arm were consistent with an animal bite, supporting the theory that a family dog at the home attacked O'Keefe. A cut over his right eye and injuries to the back of his head, they said, more likely came from being punched and falling backward on a hard surface. It was hard to know, defense attorneys argued, since police never searched the home or treated anyone there as a suspect. Even Read's comments about having 'hit him' were explained away by the defense, which said prosecutors were trying to twist into a confession the dazed words of someone who was grieving and in shock. 'It wasn't a confession. It was confusion,' Jackson said, noting that it is common to be in such a state after an emotional trauma. If Read didn't kill O'Keefe, who did? Any number of people at the home, defense lawyers suggested, while questioning why multiple key law enforcement witnesses were never considered potential suspects or investigated. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. Higgins, the federal agent, had sent sexually charged and flirtatious text messages to Read despite knowing she was in a relationship with O'Keefe. On the night in question, Higgins texted her while they were at a bar — 'Umm, well?' he wrote. Moments later he was seen 'play fighting' with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police detective and the owner of the home where the party took place. They defense also pointed to a group text that morning in which one person suggested they all agree that O'Keefe never entered the home and Albert said, 'exactly.' Albert, the defense said, never bothered to exit the house after O'Keefe was found. He later sold it, got rid of the family dog and ditched his cellphone. They also portrayed the family as politically connected, noting that Albert's brother was a police officer and a second brother was on the town's governing body. The defense also questioned Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read when they discovered the body, about a misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe made it just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. ___ See an AP Photo Gallery from Read's acquittal here.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Grieving parents want $95m from Texas Roadhouse over tragedy involving drunk-driving Karen
Parents of a 13-year-old boy killed by a drunk driver are seeking $95 million from Texas Roadhouse for the restaurant's alleged role in his death, a court heard. Leonardo 'Leo' Camacho was fatally struck in June 2020 as he helped his father Jose with yard work at Christ Culture Center Church in Cumming, Georgia. Katie Pancione's white SUV careened down the road, hopped the curb and crashed into the young teen, the jury heard, according to The Atlantic Journal-Constitution. Leo's body hurled into the air before landing in the church parking lot. He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later. Jose Camacho suffered an ankle injury in the deadly crash, the attorney representing him and his partner Daniela Torres told the court. Camacho and Torres allege Texas Roadhouse is partially responsible for Leo's death because a restaurant bartender served Pancione a pint of Michelob Ultra when she was 'noticeably intoxicated' and knew she was 'likely to drive away' afterwards. Pancione's blood alcohol concentration was three times over Georgia's legal limit at the time of the crash, Camacho family lawyer Dax Lopez said during his opening statement Tuesday. But an attorney for Texas Roadhouse dismissed the allegation, arguing Pancione 'showed no signs of intoxication in the 13 minutes she spent in the restaurant'. Pancione, then 38, arrived at the restaurant at 6:18pm on June 16, 2020. Lopez claims an expert will testify that she likely had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.225 at this point, the Journal reports. She ordered the pint while waiting for her to-go food ordered, with Lopez telling the court that she drank 'most' of the beer while in the restaurant. Pancione left the restaurant around 6:30pm and was reportedly seen 'driving erratically' before the fatal accident, the jury heard. She hit the curb, traveled onto the sidewalk and struck Leo and Camacho at 6:36pm, before fleeing the scene, Lopez said. Pancione, who was going through a divorce at the time, was arrested at her boyfriend's house about three hours later. Her BAC was tested at 9:48pm and was 0.176, well above Georgia's legal limit of 0.08. But Jeremiah Byrne, representing Texas Roadhouse, claims Pancione did not appear to be drunk while at the restaurant. He reportedly showed the jury surveillance camera footage captured during her 13 minutes at the restaurant bar, which he argues proves the bartender on duty did nothing wrong by serving her. Byrne told the court Pancione would have been 'a stumbling, puking drunk' if her BAC was 0.225 when she arrived, as the Camacho family's attorney claimed. Lopez admitted Pancione was 'not falling down drunk' at the restaurant. 'That one light beer didn't cause the accident,' Byrne told the court. 'Katie Pancione did. She was texting and driving.' Pancione pleaded guilty to felony first-degree homicide by vehicle in August 2023 in connection to Leo's death, Forsyth County News reported. She also pled guilty to charges of hit and run involving a death, serious injury by vehicle, and hit and run involving a serious injury. She was sentenced to five years in jail, followed by five years of probation. Pancione previously reached a $2.6 million settlement with Camacho and Torres to end civil claims over her involvement in Leo's death. She is among the witnesses expected to testify in the Texas Roadhouse trial, which is expected to last more than a week.
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
4-year-old killed, 3 others hurt in suspected DWI crash in Rockland County
A 4-year-old girl died Saturday after she was struck by a suspected drunk driver in Spring Valley, Rockland County. Two other children and one adult were also hit and injured. It happened just before 9:30 p.m. on Old Nyack Turnpike near Zachary Court. Spring Valley Police said a 31-year-old man and three children – ages 5, 4 and 2 – were walking on a sidewalk as they left a park when a driver hit them. According to police, the vehicle then became disabled and the driver was stuck inside. Daughter of Spring Valley Village Trustee killed by suspected drunk driver All four victims and the driver were taken to local hospitals. The 4-year-old girl died from her injuries a few hours later. Sen. Bill Weber identified the victim as Goldy Eisenbach, daughter of Spring Valley Village Trustee Yisroel Eisenbach. Police said the 31-year-old man also suffered life-threatening injuries. The 5-year-old boy suffered serious injuries, and the extent of the 2-year-old boy's injuries was not provided. According to police, the driver, 41-year-old Axel Lopez-Santiago, may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. He has been arrested and is facing multiple charges, including DWI and aggravated vehicular homicide with a previous DWI conviction. He was arraigned Sunday and is being held on $750,000 cash bail.
