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From BainbridgeGa.com Community News Telling a child about the dangers of drinking and driving often go in one ear and out the other. Today, students at Bainbridge High School saw what can happen.
A man in a white prison suit. A man shuffling across the stage in shackles. A man serving 15-30 years for vehicular homicide. The deputies guarding him uncuffed him and he began his story. He was at a party one night when he was 22. After four drinks he got a call to go to another party just one mile down the road. So thinking that it was only 4 drinks, he and his friend were on their way. They were in a hurry so going 80 on a 35 mph road seemed OK. It wasn't. They went by a van and the next thing the prisoner remembers is a gold flash. Then nothing. He gained consciousness long enough to crawl out the driver's window. The vehicle was laying on the passenger side. His legs were injured and again he drifted out of consciousness. He came to again and heard someone say "there's a fatality here". An officer tried to ask him questions. One of them was "were you drinking?". He didn't want a DUI so he told the officer "no". He woke up in the hospital. No one had told him much. Someone came and gave him news he didn't want to hear. One woman in the car he hit was dead. The man in the other vehicle was in ICU in critical condition and later died. The friend that had been with him walked away from the wreck, he had put his seatbelt on just seconds before the wreck. He got out of the hospital and 2 months later was arrested for vehicular homicide, 2 counts. For the next ten months all he could do was think about what he had done. He told the students, "the choices I made and the risks I took wasn't worth two people's lives." The wreck didn't destroy just one family, it also ripped his apart. He told how his relationship with his sister changed, how while waiting for trial he sometimes thought of suicide. His Grandmother was told that he had gone to Alaska and there was no way for him to be reached, the family was afriad that the truth would kill her. When he went to trial, almost one year to the day of the wreck, a plea bargain was made. Fifteen years for each count. A total of 30 years meaning he will be 52 when he is released. The plea bargain made it possible for parole after serving 13 years in a Georgia State Prison but even with that he would be on parole until he reaches 52. He volunteered to be part of this program that reaches out to teens. For now, he lives in a cell and his life is a top bunk, a sink, toilet and a 3 by 4 foot locker box. He has no choices to make, they are all made for him. After two years of incarceration he was allowed to send a letter to the family of those that he killed. He said he never heard back from them but they had to sign off to allow him to go out to speak about his wreck. His advise to the students: be better friends to each other, don't let them drink and drive. Don't think this can't happen to you. His speaking to the students is a joint initiative between the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and the Georgia Sheriffs Association. Bainbridge High School Principal, Tommy Howell told the students they were taking time from their classes for safety. Sheriff's Capt. Cecilia Willis spoke about a new group at the school this year; SADD, Students Against Destructive Decisions. Sheriff Wiley Griffin reminded the students that we should help others make good decisions. Placed around the auditorium were posters of wrecked vehicles and statistics important for the students and parents.
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