Ala. High School Students Hit with Reality of Drunk Driving

The Decatur Daily, Ala.

Apr. 4—Parents and family members arriving at an accident scene Tuesday morning were screaming and crying for their dead and injured loved ones. First responders, the coroner, fire trucks, ambulances and even the Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter crew were working the tragedy at the Lawrence County High School football field.

The wreck resulted in two deaths and several injuries, including two that were serious. Fortunately, it was a mock accident involving a drunken driver.

The message was clear: Don't drink and drive, especially Friday during Lawrence County High School's prom.

With 12 months of planning, the accident seemed real, almost too real for Sandra Givens, a grandmother to one of the wreck victims. "It was tough to watch," she said. "I was thanking the Lord it wasn't real."

Moulton Fire Chief Ryan Jolly thanked Lawrence County High senior sponsor Shelia Childress for coordinating the event that was used as a training session for first responders.

"She and the students made it as real as possible. The special effects were awesome, so lifelike," said Jolly, who had two fire trucks and seven first responders working the accident. "We're trying to instill in the students that they should make smart decisions even when parents aren't around."

Senior Kayla Johnson said parents screaming and weeping about their child's injuries at the scene "really got to me a couple of times."

"People take life for granted and might think it's cool to drink and drive," Johnson added. "But they don't realize it could take someone else's life, until it actually does."

Fellow senior Shelby Becker said she also was impacted by seeing parents and her friends dealing with their injured students.

"It affected me more than the videos they show us in school," she said. "These were people we actually know."

Two students, Riley Thompson and Toby Jones, "died" in the mock wreck. Jones was airlifted and died at the hospital.

At a mock trial Tuesday afternoon, Lawrence County District Judge Angela Terry sentenced driver Shemar Echols to 61 years in state prison following convictions on two manslaughter and two first-degree assault charges, and a DUI charge.

Defense attorney John Kimbrough defended Echols, saying his .05-percent blood alcohol level was below the .08 legal level of an adult. The legal level for an underage person is .02.

"That (.02 level) is about a half a beer or maybe a whole beer," Kimbrough said after the trial. "If you are under age, you should not be drinking, and if you have been drinking, at any age, think before you try to drive."

Lawrence County District Attorney Errek Jett tried the mock case. His twin daughters had active roles in the school's "Every 15 Minutes" program Tuesday.

Jordan Jett was one of 25 "living dead" seniors who were tabbed throughout the day as a fatality as the result of being hit by a drunken driver. Those seniors were taken out of class and lost the use of their cellphones for two days. They cannot talk or have any communication with anyone, Childress said. They spent Tuesday night secluded in Huntsville.

Meanwhile, Jenny Jett helped escort the Grim Reaper from class to class, claiming another senior student's life every 15 minutes. National statistics show someone is killed by a drunken driver every 15 minutes on average, Childress said.

The district attorney said drunken driving has affected him personally.

"When I was 16, my girlfriend was killed by a drunk driver," he said. "And on the other side, I had a friend who served in Desert Storm who killed somebody as a result of him drinking and driving."

Lawrence County Coroner Greg Randolph, who pronounced Thompson dead at the mock scene, said he hopes the "Every 15 Minutes" program can save lives.

"The hardest part of my job is notifying the family at 2 in the morning that they have lost a loved one," he said. "On prom nights in Lawrence County, we've had accidents involving injuries, but fortunately, no one has been killed. ... I'd like to see a program like this one today to be not just for one school but countywide. If it saves one person's life, it's worth all of the hard work put into it."

Kris Long, a critical care medic with the Lawrence County EMS, called Childress' end result "outstanding."

"The impact she has made on these kids is amazing," he said. "She has shown them a real-life experience without the consequences."

The program ends today with a funeral beginning at 10 a.m. in the school's gym.