An unlicensed driver, an ingested intoxicant and a single-vehicle wreck that killed the driver’s best friend. In a repeat of the fact pattern from another recent Albemarle County case, 19-year-old Esmont resident Sierra Cheyenne Thomas pleaded guilty Thursday to reckless driving for causing the April 30 crash that killed her best friend, Ava Bright. And in a repeat of the punishment in the prior case, Thomas seems unlikely to serve any jail time.
Albemarle General District Court Judge Matthew Quatrara was so consumed by the similarities that he halted the proceedings to study the file on the death of Jake Martel, a popular personal trainer killed in a late March wreck on Garth Road. Quatrara revealed Thursday that he rejected the initial plea deal offered to the driver in the earlier fatal crash because the proposed agreement did not provide supervision.
”I was worried about community safety,” Quatrara said.
After a revised deal supplied supervision, the case against the driver who caused Martel’s death, Joseph Hite Owings, was resolved in July by another judge.
In court Thursday, a red-faced Thomas dabbed tears and pulled her long blonde hair back as she sat, seemingly consumed by grief, at the defendant’s table.
”Cases like this amount to a huge tragedy — every parent’s nightmare,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Pollock. “There is very little that can be done to make this right.”
Police alleged that Thomas lost control of a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu on Irish Road and struck a tree near the intersection with Chestnut Grove Road southwest of Esmont in southern Albemarle.
Pollock told the court that although Thomas admitted to smoking cannabis before the wreck and although traces of the psychoactive substance were subsequently found in her blood, the commonwealth would have struggled to prove intoxication to sustain the initially levied charge of involuntary manslaughter.
”Had this gone to trial there would have been real issues of fact,” said Pollock. “Taking this to trial creates more risks than healing and might not result in a conviction at all.”
Pollock said that in addition to the knowledge that Thomas’ actions led to the death of her best friend that Thomas suffered serious physical injuries in the wreck including a brain injury and a broken femur.
Pollock further advised the court that the two families have been extremely close and that the victim’s family didn’t seek punishment.
”If they had their preference, it wouldn’t be prosecuted at all,” said Pollock.
Bright’s mother, Cari Atwell, confirmed such assertions with The Daily Progress in a telephone call after the hearing but declined to elaborate.
The prosecutor asked the judge to mark a one-year deferral period before assigning punishment on the conviction, and the judge agreed.
”I hope the public can understand the struggle that cases like these present to the families and the participants and also to the system,” said Quatrara.
The judge said he was trying to handle each case’s specifics while also maintaining consistency.
”That’s a significant difficulty,” said Quatrara.
As in the Garth Road case, he was asked to approve a no-jail deal that would require Thomas to participate in a confidential restorative justice program prescribed by a nonprofit group called Central Virginia Community Justice. Greg Bugg, a grandfather to victim Ava Bright, took the stand.
”Let’s see if we can keep this from happening again,” said Bugg.
He told the court that the two families live nearby in the Esmont area and would routinely take an annual beach vacation together.
Bugg also testified that he’s been 24 years sober after a 29-year addiction to cocaine and now serves as a leader of Celebrate Recovery, a nationally affiliated ministry with a chapter at his church.
”I want her and and her mom to land in our program,” said Bugg. “I think she will benefit greatly from it.”
Nobody at Thursday’s hearing mentioned what the investigating officer alleged in his written report, that the defendant had a prior drunk driving conviction on her juvenile record. The judge didn’t disclose what the restorative justice regimen tailored to Thomas might entail, and the group overseeing it does not typically disclose the plans.
Less secretive components of Thomas’ deal include a ban on intoxicants and a ban on all driving during the yearlong deferral period and for six months thereafter. Thomas must submit to drug screenings as well as substance supervision by another nonprofit group, Offender Aid and Restoration.
The judge then advised Thomas that failure to abide by all terms might cause him to impose the maximum one-year jail sentence when the case is recalled on Nov 5, 2026.
”And you’ll have no recourse to appeal the sentence and you’ll simply leave with the sheriff that day,” advised Quatrara. “Do you understand that?”
”Yes, sir,” Thomas replied.
Quatrara then pronounced guilt and firmed up the next year’s hearing. Three additional charges — carrying a fake ID, driving without a license and failure to wear a seat belt — will likely be dropped at that time.
”As a human being I am so sorry for both families,” said the judge. “Ms. Pollock called it ‘every parent’s nightmare,’ and I couldn’t agree more with that description, and I truly hope that this helps you folks heal.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com