Victim
Impact
Statements
Impact
Statements
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My Victim Impact Statement
My child was robbed...
She was suppose to cry for me when I got old and died, then go on living her life with everything I
taught her to guide her life and pass it on to her children.
She was suppose to smile from her memories of me as she got older.
Instead, I am left here crying for her and will not stop for a long time.
You should never understand the abysmal pain of planning your child's funeral.
Choosing the casket she'll rest in for eternity. Watching her young friends pass by her casket one
by one in tears as they say their final goodbyes.
I hope you'll never know how it feels for me to visit her grave for Christmas, Mother's day,
Valentines day and every holiday and special occasion in between.
She was supposed to be visiting me as I got old. She was supposed to be bringing new life into
this world. Instead her life was snuffed out just as it was starting.
People seem to have expected me to be over the loss of Samantha after a few months, they don't
understand why it is I still grieve the way I do. I know that I will grieve the loss of Samantha until
the day I die.
It’s very difficult to express my feelings because there truly are no words that can describe what I
feel. But, for Samantha, I will try....
After you've lost a child, all other pain pales in comparison.
My life has changed in every way possible.
I am no longer capable of compassion and sympathy...
I have no friends, either they alienated me...or I them.
I alienated my husband, our marriage fell apart and we went out separate ways.
I no longer can be around groups of people in a social situation.
I barely sleep because the nightmares are so horrific I would rather force my body to adjust to no
sleep then to have to experience the nightmares.
I stay in my home aside from grocery shopping and running the kids to appointments.
Even a simple task like grocery shopping is painful. I see things I normally would have bought for
Samantha, or things she would have asked me for.
It took me a long time before I finally stopped picking things up and putting them in my cart...
Most days I find my only happiness by living in denial and expect her to come walking through the
door to tell us the details of her day, her plans for the coming evening.
You know better than I that will never, ever happen. But most times it's all I have to get me through
the day.
Samantha was the light, the life, the energy in our home. She kept everything interesting and fun.
She loved life so much, so much that we feel guilty being allowed the gift of life while hers was
ripped from her.
You know... it was less then one hour after Samantha's sisters 18th Birthday,
that Samantha sat in horrific fear in a burning vehicle waiting for help.
While I understand you may look at Kellie and feel sympathy for her, bear in mind two things:
First, She did this to herself. The only person who could have prevented this tragedy was Kellie.
Second, Samantha sat in that burning vehicle for what probably felt like an eternity before they
could finally extinguish it and successfully extract her while Kellie was removed and on her way to
the hospital for help.
So when you look at Kellie and imagine how she must have suffered, multiply that by 3, 4, maybe
5 minutes. And in the end, Samantha paid the ultimate price....her life.
Once at the hospital, I was then forced to start making some tough choices about Samanthas
care. We had never discussed what she would want - it's not natural for a child to die before their
parents, but I made the choices as best and rationally as I could.
I was told again and again - if we didn't consent to this or to that , Samantha would die.
So I gave consent for them to open her abdomen to allow for swelling of her organs.
I consented to them amputating her feet. I gave consent to anything that might give her a chance
at some kind of life.
In the end, whatever we tried was all for nothing as the choices made by a woman who wanted to
numb her mind with alcohol....
have now caused a perpetual numbness in my heart that will never leave....ever.
Because of Kellies selfishness - even if Samantha had lived, she would be disfigured, disabled
and dependent on others for her care for the rest of her painful life.
Any dreams she had for a normal life with a family, a husband, kids and her friends are now dead
because of the selfish belief of one woman who thought life was better while feeling the effects of
alcohol.
Now as it stands, Kellie has her family, her home and everything else she started with. Everything
is fairly good for her, she is living, breathing and able to do anything she wants.. her life blissfully
goes on without loss.
She is even free to choose to continue to numb her mind every evening if she chooses to relax
and forget the sadness she caused.
Unfortunately, her actions of that day still rip through me like a knife every minute of every day and
every night and will for the rest of my life - those feelings cannot be numbed or removed in my
heart nor will they ever subside.
I realize life, is often not fair. But every so often we can make a decision that evens things out just
a little....to make things a little more right. It is what our legal system is and has been based on
for over 200 years and what I believe this court and all who are here stand for. I am now here to
ask you, from the very bottom of my grieving heart, to not just allow the killer of my child to go on
without realizing there is a price to pay for her actions.
She chose to drink... she chose to drive, she chose to drink too much before she drove.
And my little girls only mistake was trusting an adult who she thought would look out for her.
I ask... I implore you to show Kellie that this was not just an error, not just a lapse in judgment..
it was an action that ripped a family apart and took my little girl, my happiness, my life away from
me.
It was not a mistake.. it was a crime. And a crime fitting of a punishment. I don't ask this out of
hatred...I ask this out of wishing for justice for my child - for what has been done is a crime.
Please treat it accordingly and show not only Kellie - but anyone who breaks the law by drinking,
getting drunk, and then driving and taking a life, that there is a price to pay.
I wont feel better no matter what the outcome of this sentencing. However - if by your actions and
your sentence today, you set an example that just one drunk driver notices - then maybe... just
maybe... one life will be saved and one family will stay together.
I don't wish my life, my existence now on anyone - help make sure it doesn't happen to anyone
else by sending a clear message of just how wrong her choice was.
My Statement to Kellie:
Kellie,
I had no intention of addressing you directly today but after careful consideration I decided
it's important that I do.
I do understand today is a difficult day for you too, the thought of being put behind bars must
be scary for you.
But I need you to understand that this was never about revenge.
Yes, there was a point I was very angry, there was a point I even hated you.
But you need to know there was also a time when my family and I prayed for you...
when we were in the hospital praying for Samantha, we prayed for you as well.
It has taken me a long time to sort out all of the emotions that come along with the loss
of a child. I'm still today working on it.
I no longer feel the hate and rage I once did. I do hate what you did. I am angry that
Samantha is gone. My heart is so broken, there is no way it will ever be whole again.
I sadly am not the first parent to lose a child to a drunk driver and unfortunately not the last.
I am learning that rather then waste my energy on hate, it is better spent on bringing awareness to
the issue at hand (Drunk driving) and hopefully preventing another parent from having
to suffer the way me and my family have.
I need to be able to forgive you one day. Not for you, not for me....but for Samantha
Because it's what she would want and what she would do herself.
I am unable today to forgive you...but one day I hope to be able to.
Regardless of whether I forgive you or not I still firmly believe you do need to be held
accountable for your actions. It was a crime, a crime fitting of punishment.
I feel, you, losing 8 years of your life pales in comparison to the price Samantha paid.
I just want you to know, I do not ask for the maximum allowed sentence out of revenge, that wont
bring my Sammy back. I ask for the maximum sentence for justice.
A crime was committed and you MUST be held accountable.
We, Samantha's family have waited a long time for this day. We have been extremely patient
and understanding of your needs and have shown every consideration even when we were
frustrated with the delays.
I feel it's time now for you to accept the sentence imposed upon you and allow us to begin to heal.
We need closure so we can begin to learn how to live without Samantha and find our "New
normal" If you truly are remorseful for what you have done, the pain you have caused Samantha
and the rest of my family you will allow us this much.
Letter from her Auntie Linda
This one she read in court:
I want this court to know what affect all of this has had on me and my family. I want you to know
how each and every day of my life, I have to remember how my beautiful niece looked after the
accident. I have to remember looking for a spot on her tiny body that was not burned so I could
touch her and let her know I was there. I want you to know how much that haunts me. I know she
suffered and how afraid she must have been. Can you even imagine how it feels to know what
she sustained that night. It pains me beyond anything I have ever imagined to know how the last
nights of her life she suffered. How afraid she must have been during the accident.
I have to give credit to my sister, her mother, for her enduring all the delays through out this almost
3 year process. She has been much more patient and understanding them I could ever be. I truly
feel any further delays in giving us the closure and justice we deserve, would be a cruel
punishment on us. I want you to know that granting any further delays in Kelly going to jail will
make my sister and our family feel even more like we are the defendants and Kelly is the victim.
Not Samantha!
As I stated in my victim impact statement, I am not without sympathy for Kelly, I am sure she did
not set out to kill my niece that night. However, when she drank 3 times over the legal limit and
get behind the wheel of a car and drove, she put the life of each and every person on the road that
night in her hands and she used extremely poor judgment when taking my young niece in the car
with her. She took her from us and we will never get her back. She caused my niece to endure a
horrible and painful death. She took a piece of each and every member of my families heart that
night. We are forever changed.
I know it is easy to look at Kelly and sympathize with her. I know how some people may even think
she has paid enough because she has to look at herself in the mirror every day. Kelly did that all
to herself by being a drunk driver. My nieces life was taken from her by the actions of someone
who was not only drunk but driving at an extremely high rate of speed. Another horrible choice
Kelly made that night. Perhaps if she was not driving at that rate of speed, my niece would still be
with us today. I have never driven my car at that rate of speed, ever! Remember, when you start to
feel sympathy for Kelly, you were not there to see how horrible my niece looked. Her severely
burned and broken her body, you will never know what is was like to be in the room when her tiny
body finally failed and she passed. How all the doctors and nurses in that room had tears in her
eyes when she left us forever. I was there and I do know. You will never know how beautiful of a
person my niece was.
My biggest fear is that any jail time Kelly is given will be continually delayed until all the time she
deserves in jail, has been served in house arrest. That would be a horrible injustice served to my
family.
Please do not let an even bigger injustice happen to my family by allowing any further delays in
Kelly going to jail and paying for her actions of drinking and driving at such a high rate or speed.
We have waited long enough.
My child was robbed...
She was suppose to cry for me when I got old and died, then go on living her life with everything I
taught her to guide her life and pass it on to her children.
She was suppose to smile from her memories of me as she got older.
Instead, I am left here crying for her and will not stop for a long time.
You should never understand the abysmal pain of planning your child's funeral.
Choosing the casket she'll rest in for eternity. Watching her young friends pass by her casket one
by one in tears as they say their final goodbyes.
I hope you'll never know how it feels for me to visit her grave for Christmas, Mother's day,
Valentines day and every holiday and special occasion in between.
She was supposed to be visiting me as I got old. She was supposed to be bringing new life into
this world. Instead her life was snuffed out just as it was starting.
People seem to have expected me to be over the loss of Samantha after a few months, they don't
understand why it is I still grieve the way I do. I know that I will grieve the loss of Samantha until
the day I die.
It’s very difficult to express my feelings because there truly are no words that can describe what I
feel. But, for Samantha, I will try....
After you've lost a child, all other pain pales in comparison.
My life has changed in every way possible.
I am no longer capable of compassion and sympathy...
I have no friends, either they alienated me...or I them.
I alienated my husband, our marriage fell apart and we went out separate ways.
I no longer can be around groups of people in a social situation.
I barely sleep because the nightmares are so horrific I would rather force my body to adjust to no
sleep then to have to experience the nightmares.
I stay in my home aside from grocery shopping and running the kids to appointments.
Even a simple task like grocery shopping is painful. I see things I normally would have bought for
Samantha, or things she would have asked me for.
It took me a long time before I finally stopped picking things up and putting them in my cart...
Most days I find my only happiness by living in denial and expect her to come walking through the
door to tell us the details of her day, her plans for the coming evening.
You know better than I that will never, ever happen. But most times it's all I have to get me through
the day.
Samantha was the light, the life, the energy in our home. She kept everything interesting and fun.
She loved life so much, so much that we feel guilty being allowed the gift of life while hers was
ripped from her.
You know... it was less then one hour after Samantha's sisters 18th Birthday,
that Samantha sat in horrific fear in a burning vehicle waiting for help.
While I understand you may look at Kellie and feel sympathy for her, bear in mind two things:
First, She did this to herself. The only person who could have prevented this tragedy was Kellie.
Second, Samantha sat in that burning vehicle for what probably felt like an eternity before they
could finally extinguish it and successfully extract her while Kellie was removed and on her way to
the hospital for help.
So when you look at Kellie and imagine how she must have suffered, multiply that by 3, 4, maybe
5 minutes. And in the end, Samantha paid the ultimate price....her life.
Once at the hospital, I was then forced to start making some tough choices about Samanthas
care. We had never discussed what she would want - it's not natural for a child to die before their
parents, but I made the choices as best and rationally as I could.
I was told again and again - if we didn't consent to this or to that , Samantha would die.
So I gave consent for them to open her abdomen to allow for swelling of her organs.
I consented to them amputating her feet. I gave consent to anything that might give her a chance
at some kind of life.
In the end, whatever we tried was all for nothing as the choices made by a woman who wanted to
numb her mind with alcohol....
have now caused a perpetual numbness in my heart that will never leave....ever.
Because of Kellies selfishness - even if Samantha had lived, she would be disfigured, disabled
and dependent on others for her care for the rest of her painful life.
Any dreams she had for a normal life with a family, a husband, kids and her friends are now dead
because of the selfish belief of one woman who thought life was better while feeling the effects of
alcohol.
Now as it stands, Kellie has her family, her home and everything else she started with. Everything
is fairly good for her, she is living, breathing and able to do anything she wants.. her life blissfully
goes on without loss.
She is even free to choose to continue to numb her mind every evening if she chooses to relax
and forget the sadness she caused.
Unfortunately, her actions of that day still rip through me like a knife every minute of every day and
every night and will for the rest of my life - those feelings cannot be numbed or removed in my
heart nor will they ever subside.
I realize life, is often not fair. But every so often we can make a decision that evens things out just
a little....to make things a little more right. It is what our legal system is and has been based on
for over 200 years and what I believe this court and all who are here stand for. I am now here to
ask you, from the very bottom of my grieving heart, to not just allow the killer of my child to go on
without realizing there is a price to pay for her actions.
She chose to drink... she chose to drive, she chose to drink too much before she drove.
And my little girls only mistake was trusting an adult who she thought would look out for her.
I ask... I implore you to show Kellie that this was not just an error, not just a lapse in judgment..
it was an action that ripped a family apart and took my little girl, my happiness, my life away from
me.
It was not a mistake.. it was a crime. And a crime fitting of a punishment. I don't ask this out of
hatred...I ask this out of wishing for justice for my child - for what has been done is a crime.
Please treat it accordingly and show not only Kellie - but anyone who breaks the law by drinking,
getting drunk, and then driving and taking a life, that there is a price to pay.
I wont feel better no matter what the outcome of this sentencing. However - if by your actions and
your sentence today, you set an example that just one drunk driver notices - then maybe... just
maybe... one life will be saved and one family will stay together.
I don't wish my life, my existence now on anyone - help make sure it doesn't happen to anyone
else by sending a clear message of just how wrong her choice was.
My Statement to Kellie:
Kellie,
I had no intention of addressing you directly today but after careful consideration I decided
it's important that I do.
I do understand today is a difficult day for you too, the thought of being put behind bars must
be scary for you.
But I need you to understand that this was never about revenge.
Yes, there was a point I was very angry, there was a point I even hated you.
But you need to know there was also a time when my family and I prayed for you...
when we were in the hospital praying for Samantha, we prayed for you as well.
It has taken me a long time to sort out all of the emotions that come along with the loss
of a child. I'm still today working on it.
I no longer feel the hate and rage I once did. I do hate what you did. I am angry that
Samantha is gone. My heart is so broken, there is no way it will ever be whole again.
I sadly am not the first parent to lose a child to a drunk driver and unfortunately not the last.
I am learning that rather then waste my energy on hate, it is better spent on bringing awareness to
the issue at hand (Drunk driving) and hopefully preventing another parent from having
to suffer the way me and my family have.
I need to be able to forgive you one day. Not for you, not for me....but for Samantha
Because it's what she would want and what she would do herself.
I am unable today to forgive you...but one day I hope to be able to.
Regardless of whether I forgive you or not I still firmly believe you do need to be held
accountable for your actions. It was a crime, a crime fitting of punishment.
I feel, you, losing 8 years of your life pales in comparison to the price Samantha paid.
I just want you to know, I do not ask for the maximum allowed sentence out of revenge, that wont
bring my Sammy back. I ask for the maximum sentence for justice.
A crime was committed and you MUST be held accountable.
We, Samantha's family have waited a long time for this day. We have been extremely patient
and understanding of your needs and have shown every consideration even when we were
frustrated with the delays.
I feel it's time now for you to accept the sentence imposed upon you and allow us to begin to heal.
We need closure so we can begin to learn how to live without Samantha and find our "New
normal" If you truly are remorseful for what you have done, the pain you have caused Samantha
and the rest of my family you will allow us this much.
Letter from her Auntie Linda
This one she read in court:
I want this court to know what affect all of this has had on me and my family. I want you to know
how each and every day of my life, I have to remember how my beautiful niece looked after the
accident. I have to remember looking for a spot on her tiny body that was not burned so I could
touch her and let her know I was there. I want you to know how much that haunts me. I know she
suffered and how afraid she must have been. Can you even imagine how it feels to know what
she sustained that night. It pains me beyond anything I have ever imagined to know how the last
nights of her life she suffered. How afraid she must have been during the accident.
I have to give credit to my sister, her mother, for her enduring all the delays through out this almost
3 year process. She has been much more patient and understanding them I could ever be. I truly
feel any further delays in giving us the closure and justice we deserve, would be a cruel
punishment on us. I want you to know that granting any further delays in Kelly going to jail will
make my sister and our family feel even more like we are the defendants and Kelly is the victim.
Not Samantha!
As I stated in my victim impact statement, I am not without sympathy for Kelly, I am sure she did
not set out to kill my niece that night. However, when she drank 3 times over the legal limit and
get behind the wheel of a car and drove, she put the life of each and every person on the road that
night in her hands and she used extremely poor judgment when taking my young niece in the car
with her. She took her from us and we will never get her back. She caused my niece to endure a
horrible and painful death. She took a piece of each and every member of my families heart that
night. We are forever changed.
I know it is easy to look at Kelly and sympathize with her. I know how some people may even think
she has paid enough because she has to look at herself in the mirror every day. Kelly did that all
to herself by being a drunk driver. My nieces life was taken from her by the actions of someone
who was not only drunk but driving at an extremely high rate of speed. Another horrible choice
Kelly made that night. Perhaps if she was not driving at that rate of speed, my niece would still be
with us today. I have never driven my car at that rate of speed, ever! Remember, when you start to
feel sympathy for Kelly, you were not there to see how horrible my niece looked. Her severely
burned and broken her body, you will never know what is was like to be in the room when her tiny
body finally failed and she passed. How all the doctors and nurses in that room had tears in her
eyes when she left us forever. I was there and I do know. You will never know how beautiful of a
person my niece was.
My biggest fear is that any jail time Kelly is given will be continually delayed until all the time she
deserves in jail, has been served in house arrest. That would be a horrible injustice served to my
family.
Please do not let an even bigger injustice happen to my family by allowing any further delays in
Kelly going to jail and paying for her actions of drinking and driving at such a high rate or speed.
We have waited long enough.
