A Lufkin mother is hoping justice will be served at the Friday re-sentencing of the Trinity man responsible for the drunk driving accident that killed her son and shattered the life of her family.
Anngie Medellin's 14-year-old son Eduardo Jr. died from a massive head injury Dec. 8, 2007 after the family's Suburban was struck from behind by drunk driver Justin Sutton in San Jacinto County. The family was heading home from a Christmas shopping trip in Houston. Sutton's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when the wreck occurred, according to the accident report.
Jessica Cooley/The Lufkin Daily News |
Anngie Medellin watches over her son, 13-year-old Eric, in a Houston hospital after he underwent three surgeries this week to repair his damaged right leg. He lost his left leg in a drunk driving accident Dec. 8, 2007 and his right leg was severely crushed.
|
All four of the Medellin children were thrown from the vehicle as it spun and rolled, landing in a field off of U.S. 59 north around 9:05 p.m. The Suburban rolled over the top of 13-year-old Eric's legs, severing his left and severely crushing his right.
He has spent the last two years in and out of Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston undergoing numerous surgeries to save his right leg, the most recent being last week. He'll have another major surgery on Monday, Medellin said.
Ten-year-old Edgar suffered a broken spine and 5-year-old Emiley suffered a broken leg. Medellin herself suffered a broken arm in the accident but ignored the pain as she and her husband desperately searched the dark field for their children.
"After it happened I yelled at Justin to help me find my children," Medellin said. "The answer I got was 'are you happy with what you've done?' Then he took a swing at me. He was very combative. He also tried to start a fight with my husband when my husband ran up carrying Emiley. Those details didn't come out during the trial though. I wonder if that would have changed things."
What Medellin hopes to see changed is Sutton's original sentence handed down on Oct. 30 by Trinity County Judge Chap Cain III.
The sentence included deferred adjudication in an alcohol rehab program for the death of Eduardo Jr. in place of prison time, four 10 year-sentences for the injuries to Medellin and her children to be served simultaneously and $60,000 restitution for Eric's damaged legs.
"In the court room my mother kept asking over and over 'are your legs worth $60,000?'" Medellin said.
Cain took over the case after the original judge, Elizabeth Coker removed herself. San Jacinto County District Attorney Bill Burnett said he believed Coker recused herself because she knew Sutton's grandparents.
Already hurt by the deferred adjudication sentence for Eduardo's death, Medellin said it was an additional detail to Sutton's sentence that left her feeling "completely let down by the justice system."
"The judge gave him shock probation, meaning that after only 160 days in prison he could be out enjoying the things in life that my Eduardo isn't getting to enjoy and the things that Eric isn't getting to enjoy right now either," she said. "I picked up the paper a few weeks ago to see that a man got 180 days for killing his neighbor's dog. That's basically what Justin got. My son was not a dog."
Sutton is heading back for re-sentencing because his sentence was deemed invalid, Burnett said.
"You can't give deferred adjudication for intoxicated manslaughter. The judge was advised he couldn't do it but he did," Burnett said.
Burnett also noted that Sutton should not be eligible for shock probation, as he's already done prison time for burglarizing a building in 2005.
"The criminal proceedings code says you're not eligible for shock probation if you've served time for a felony and he has," Burnett said.
Medellin said that on Friday she hopes to see justice served, but isn't going to get her hopes up about the outcome.
"The only problem I see is that it's the same judge," she said. "My fear is that we're going to go in there and he's going to say 'OK, one year in prison.' I don't want the judge to give him one or two years. I don't think he's sorry for what happened. Seeing how combative he's been tells me that."
"He wouldn't even look at the accident photos or a picture of Eduardo," she continued. "Seeing those accident pictures of Eduardo — I have to live with that. The fact that I found my son without a leg — I have to live with that. I want him to be in jail. I want justice to be served."
