A Florida woman who was driving under the influence and nearly 25 miles over the speed limit when she crashed into another vehicle killing four Black mothers will spend four years in prison followed by six years of probation.
The family of the victims pleaded with the judge to reconsider the plea deal, but Circuit Court judge Larry Metz said it was the only way to guarantee that the driver, Heather Finley would spend time behind bars. The maximum possible sentence was about 37 years.
“A year for a life,” fumed Natalya Davis, a cousin of Roslyn Felton, one of the mothers who died in the crash. “If that’s the value of a Black life today, then I don’t understand where the world is going.”
Felton, 29, was in a Chevy Malibu truck with cousins Sha’Keila Smith and Kambrea Smith, both 26; and Tierra Chambers, 25, when Finley smashed into it just after 2 a.m. in April 2018. The mothers of a total of eight children were leaving the Breeze Bar after what their family members said was a rare night out. Chambers was making a left turn out of an unpaved parking lot onto State Road 50 in Mascotte, about 40 miles west of Orlando, when Finley slammed her Chevy Silverado pickup into the vehicle.
Reports show Finley was driving 59 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. Her blood alcohol level at the scene was 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit for when a driver is considered impaired. Reports show the test was administered five hours after the accident.
Metz had placed the deal on hold in April to review more evidence. He said in his ruling on Sept. 22 that if he rejected the deal, the state could drop the case, and he did not have the ability to alter the agreement between the prosecutor and defense attorneys.
Finley is white. The victims’ families believed the outcome would have been different if the victims were of another race.
“This whole case has been blown purposely because of race,” Jakessan Turner told prosecutors after the sentencing hearing.
Finley’s license would be revoked for three years, and she was also ordered to pay the $200,000 in restitution to the families. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped four DUI counts, convicting Finley of four vehicular homicide charges. The families said they also did not have any say in the plea deal.
“We take care of these children with everything we have in us,” Davis said. “That’s about four lives taken. This is about children who have been left without their mothers… If you say that there is no point in her going to prison, then give us our family back; make this possible for us.”
Prosecutors noted that there were issues with evidence in the case. In a three-page memo, state attorney Chris Small detailed problems with video and “black box” data from the vehicles and a defense accident reconstruction report that raises doubts about Finley’s impairment.
Finley’s defense attorney filed a motion challenging the blood-level alcohol test results, saying they were “based on a lack of scientific reliability.”
The convicted woman reportedly yelled, “that b***h wrecked my new truck!”
“The defendant, other than being hysterical, showed no indicators of impairment,” the prosecutor’s memo stated.
Finley, reportedly tearful during the hearing, apologized to the family. Some of the victims’ relatives left as she spoke to the judge.
“I don’t want to hear you,” one of them said.
Still, Finley expressed her regret.
“I’m so sorry, and I know saying I’m sorry doesn’t bring these girls back, but there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about them,” she said. “I know they don’t want to hear it, but I just want to say I’m sorry.”
The young mother’s children were from newborn to 12 years old at the time of the fatal crash, local paper, the Daily Commercial reports.
Chamber’s mother, Jamie Thomas, showed the judge a photo of her daughter.
“I want everyone to see that this is Tierra,” Thomas said.
The woman had just got engaged and was planning a wedding and honeymoon to Jamaica. It was 10 days before Chambers’ 21st birthday and her son was soon turning 2. Thomas said she received Chambers’ passport and college diploma in the mail after she was gone. She never got to walk across the stage.
The victim’s mother said her death “almost killed her.” She had to be prescribed medication for social anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It’s been four long, excruciating years. I miss her so much,” Thomas said. “Her baby boy’s second birthday (was) 20 days after she was killed. Imagine trying to plan a funeral and a birthday party for her son at the same time?”
Thomas reportedly sobbed uncontrollably as Finley was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Her husband, James Thomas, sometimes pounded on the podium when he spoke, calling the case “a farce” and saying that the tragedy “left a hole in my family’s heart.” He hopes the driver and her family one day experience the pain his family is feeling.
“I know it’s wrong to say that,” he said. “But what she’s pleading out to is an absolute joke.”
The women’s relatives had asked the judge in April to reject the deal, but Metz said after reviewing the new information, he “felt better” about his decision.
“I was 11 years old when my mother was taken from me and my sister,” said Felton’s daughter, Alanna Marshall, now 16. “Heather, you have life left. Your parents can see you in prison. My sister, my dad and I have to go to the cemetery to talk to my mother.”
