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11-10-2005, 10:33 AM
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2005 Last modified: Tuesday, November 8, 2005 8:56 AM EST
Mother goes to jail for son's car crash that hurt pedestrian
Donna Williams of Morehead was recently sentenced to two years in jail after her teenage son hit a pedestrian while operating her car.
Rowan County Circuit Judge Beth Maze also ordered Williams to write a public letter of apology.
Police said that witnesses told them Williams, 34, had habitually allowed her 15-year-old son to drive her 2003 red Mercedes convertible.
On Aug. 16, 2004, the boy was driving the car when it struck Buford Crager of Morehead, who was walking his neighbor's dog. The impact of the crash injured Crager's leg, which eventually had to be amputated below the knee. The crash instantly killed the Jack Russell terrier he was walking.
Crager is a former vice president of Morehead State University.
Judge Maze said she felt that if any benefit could come of the incident, it would be public awareness.
The letter included a statement by Williams that she was too permissive with her son.
Commonwealth Attorney George Moore said it is not unprecedented for judges to require public letters of apology, but it is a new legal area for grand juries to indict a parent of an unlicensed driver on a felony charge.
Moore said putting an unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a 3,000-pound vehicle is not different from giving a child a loaded gun and hope he doesn't kill somebody.
Williams was initially indicted on a charge of first-degree assault and in a plea agreement, the charge was reduced to first-degree wanton endangerment.
She began serving a two-year sentence in Montgomery County Regional Jail on Oct. 17.
Williams's son, who is now 16, was given the maximum punishment available for a juvenile offender, according to Maze. He was not injured in the accident.
Crager said he did not ask the prosecutor to charge the mother of the driver or to make her write a public letter of apology. He added that he has no malice and hopefully, something positive can come from the incident.
Mother goes to jail for son's car crash that hurt pedestrian
Donna Williams of Morehead was recently sentenced to two years in jail after her teenage son hit a pedestrian while operating her car.
Rowan County Circuit Judge Beth Maze also ordered Williams to write a public letter of apology.
Police said that witnesses told them Williams, 34, had habitually allowed her 15-year-old son to drive her 2003 red Mercedes convertible.
On Aug. 16, 2004, the boy was driving the car when it struck Buford Crager of Morehead, who was walking his neighbor's dog. The impact of the crash injured Crager's leg, which eventually had to be amputated below the knee. The crash instantly killed the Jack Russell terrier he was walking.
Crager is a former vice president of Morehead State University.
Judge Maze said she felt that if any benefit could come of the incident, it would be public awareness.
The letter included a statement by Williams that she was too permissive with her son.
Commonwealth Attorney George Moore said it is not unprecedented for judges to require public letters of apology, but it is a new legal area for grand juries to indict a parent of an unlicensed driver on a felony charge.
Moore said putting an unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a 3,000-pound vehicle is not different from giving a child a loaded gun and hope he doesn't kill somebody.
Williams was initially indicted on a charge of first-degree assault and in a plea agreement, the charge was reduced to first-degree wanton endangerment.
She began serving a two-year sentence in Montgomery County Regional Jail on Oct. 17.
Williams's son, who is now 16, was given the maximum punishment available for a juvenile offender, according to Maze. He was not injured in the accident.
Crager said he did not ask the prosecutor to charge the mother of the driver or to make her write a public letter of apology. He added that he has no malice and hopefully, something positive can come from the incident.