GRANITE CITY, IL (KTVI - FOX2now.com) -
Police say a Granite City man was drunk and high when he ran over and killed a man and a pregnant woman. Yet he won't even get a DUI in his plea deal. Mary Drayton and Jeremiah Phelps had a baby on the way. Then in November 2007, they all died when Shaun Myers hit them while they were walking. Police said Myers told them he didn't know what he hit, so he took off.
On June 8, 2009, Myers pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and a count of leaving the scene of a deadly crash. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of aggravated DUI. Mary's mom, Susan Drayton wanted those DUI's to stick.
She told us, "I wanted to go to a trial." Then she added, "I think [the jury] would have charged him with all of the counts."
FOX 2 asked Myers' attorney about the plea deal and the lack of jail time.
Attorney Harry Anderson responded, "That's correct. He could get no time in jail or probation or up to ten years [in prison]." (Hayes) "Does that seem right that after killing people he could just get probation?" (Anderson) "Well there's some mitigating circumstances in the case and at the sentencing hearing I believe you'll see a little more than what's just in the criminal information."
The victims' families say they keep hearing about these "mitigating circumstances" from prosecutors as to why they've got to go after a plea deal. That it was partly Mary and J.C.'s fault for leaving that same bar and walking down a dark road with no sidewalk, with the flow of traffic.
Attorney Alan Mandel, who handles personal injury cases, said the jury should look only at the driver's behavior in a DUI case.
Mandel told us, "It would be very difficult to blame the victim in a criminal proceeding involving a DUI death. We're talking about a criminal proceeding as opposed to a civil trial for damages."
The Fox Files requested the most recent DUI conviction statistics from both Missouri and Illinois. -- to compare DUI arrests with convictions.
In Missouri, the number of convictions adds up to 51% of the number of DUI arrests in 2008.
Illinois' most recent stats are from 2007 -- where convictions made up 41 percent of the number of arrests.
Under Illinois law, Myers lost his license after the arrest and the Madison County State's Attorney's office gave a statement adding "it is our experience that it is more difficult to obtain reinstatement of driving privileges that are lost due to a reckless homicide conviction than a dui conviction."
Even if Myers gets the maximum ten years in prison, he'll have the chance to drive again. And whether he gets his license back or not -- it'll be up to police to watch him -- because records show he already had a suspended license when he ran over Mary and J.C. in November 2007.
Myers attorney also pointed out that his client will have to serve at least 85 percent of what the judge sentences him to in the reckless homicides.
The victims' families are suing Myers in civil court.
On June 8, 2009, Myers pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and a count of leaving the scene of a deadly crash. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of aggravated DUI. Mary's mom, Susan Drayton wanted those DUI's to stick.
She told us, "I wanted to go to a trial." Then she added, "I think [the jury] would have charged him with all of the counts."
FOX 2 asked Myers' attorney about the plea deal and the lack of jail time.
Attorney Harry Anderson responded, "That's correct. He could get no time in jail or probation or up to ten years [in prison]." (Hayes) "Does that seem right that after killing people he could just get probation?" (Anderson) "Well there's some mitigating circumstances in the case and at the sentencing hearing I believe you'll see a little more than what's just in the criminal information."
The victims' families say they keep hearing about these "mitigating circumstances" from prosecutors as to why they've got to go after a plea deal. That it was partly Mary and J.C.'s fault for leaving that same bar and walking down a dark road with no sidewalk, with the flow of traffic.
Attorney Alan Mandel, who handles personal injury cases, said the jury should look only at the driver's behavior in a DUI case.
Mandel told us, "It would be very difficult to blame the victim in a criminal proceeding involving a DUI death. We're talking about a criminal proceeding as opposed to a civil trial for damages."
The Fox Files requested the most recent DUI conviction statistics from both Missouri and Illinois. -- to compare DUI arrests with convictions.
In Missouri, the number of convictions adds up to 51% of the number of DUI arrests in 2008.
Illinois' most recent stats are from 2007 -- where convictions made up 41 percent of the number of arrests.
Under Illinois law, Myers lost his license after the arrest and the Madison County State's Attorney's office gave a statement adding "it is our experience that it is more difficult to obtain reinstatement of driving privileges that are lost due to a reckless homicide conviction than a dui conviction."
Even if Myers gets the maximum ten years in prison, he'll have the chance to drive again. And whether he gets his license back or not -- it'll be up to police to watch him -- because records show he already had a suspended license when he ran over Mary and J.C. in November 2007.
Myers attorney also pointed out that his client will have to serve at least 85 percent of what the judge sentences him to in the reckless homicides.
The victims' families are suing Myers in civil court.
