They never got to say goodbye.
“The kids including their chairs were ripped out of the car.”
“Next thing we knew it was 7:00a.m. and two clothed police officers came to our door and told us our daughter had been killed.”
“It’s probably the greatest pain we’ve ever experienced in life.”
Their grief will last a lifetime.
“It all hits you that this was so preventable that my child was just killed by a driver who was intoxicated,” said Susan Demko, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver in 2014.
These families have come together in hopes of changing the state’s DUI laws. Senate Bill 290 would require all first-time offenders to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicles. It’s mandatory in most states. This week, Pennsylvania House lawmakers once again took the bill under consideration.
“I quite frankly have no idea what the delay is.”
Valentine’s Day 2015. Paul and Maggie Hannagan were on their way home from a concert with their two children, when they were hit by a drunk driver.
“We subsequently found out he was two times the limit.”, said Paul Hannagan. “He was on a drug called Clonapin which makes you more drunk, feel more drunk, and he was texting.”
There are about 50,000 DUI arrests a year in Pennsylvania. 12,000 of those are repeat offenders. A recent study by the consumer group Wallet Hub did a study to find which states had the strongest or most lenient DUI laws. Pennsylvania ranked at the bottom for weak penalties that put repeat offenders back on the road.
You can have 20 arrests for DUI and it will never be a felony, however if you go to Wal-Mart and steal pens three times that’s a felony,” remarked Chris Demko.
The Demko family formed the group Pennsylvania Parents Against Impaired Driving. It has caught the attention of lawmakers.
“The charge for homicide by DUI he received the absolute minimum, three years,” said Jeff Webster. “We did not feel that was right at all 4:30:03
Jeff and Cindy Webster cannot believe 6 years has past since their daughter was killed in a violent crash near Bellefonte. Her boyfriend was drunk and had a suspended license. He is up for parole this summer.
“We are going to Harrisburg here in July we are going to speak to parole board prior to his parole hearing and talk with them about our feelings.”
Jeff formed a memorial for his daughter called “Justice For Julie”. He and his wife give out an annual scholarship and they share their tragic story at schools and inside prisons.
“One of the inmates stood up and said Mr. Webster I never heard a story like Julie’s before and it made me shake and it made me cry 14 i never realized what it’s like from the victim’s side.”
Anniversaries and birthdays are hard, but the group supports each other.