A Black family is hurt and enraged after a white Florida woman was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison and six years of probation after taking away members of their family—four mothers, the Daily Commercial reported.
“Four years for four lives!” Natalya Davis, a cousin of Roslyn Felton– one of the victims of the crash.
Circuit Court Judge Larry Mets declined the victims’ families’ plea to reconsider the plea deal because, according to him, it was his only way to ensure that Heather Finley, the white woman and driver, be placed in prison. Metz said that rejecting the plea deal would’ve led to the state possibly dropping the case, disabling him from changing the terms.
The accident happened in 2018. The victims, Sha’Keila Smith, 26; Kambrea Smith, 26; Felton, 29; and Tierra Chambers, 25, were leaving Breeze Bar in Mascotte, Florida, a little after 2 a.m. in a Chevy Malibu truck.
Chambers made a left out of an unpaved parking lot unto State Road 50 when Finley crashed her Chevy Silverado pickup truck into the Chevy Malibu. Finley’s speed that night was 59 mph when the speed limit was supposed to be 35 mph. Her blood alcohol level was 0.08 percent, meaning Finley was legally intoxicated.
Finley allegedly yelled, “That b***h wrecked my new truck!”
In addition to the prison sentence and probation, Finley had to pay the family $200,000 in restitution, and her license would be revoked for three years. The plea deal involved prosecutors dropping four DUI charges. To the families, Finley’s punishment wasn’t enough since she took the lives of four mothers who, in total, parented eight children.
“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.”
The family also claimed the case’s ruling stemmed from the family and victims being Black, which prosecutors denied. State attorney Chris Small claimed that the faultiness with the video and “black box” data from the cars make the two unreliable as evidence.
“A year for a life,” Davis said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “If that’s the value of a Black life today, then I don’t understand where the world is going.”
Chambers’ mother, Jamie Thomas, displayed a photo of her daughter to the judge and said her daughter never got to walk the stage at her college graduation. Chambers’ life was cut short before she was able to celebrate her son’s 2nd birthday.
“It’s been four long, excruciating years,” Thomas said. “I miss her so much. 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’ husband, James, stated in court that Finley’s actions “left a hold in my family’s heart” and hoped the driver and her family would experience the pain his family felt.
Felton’s daughter, now 16-year-old Alanna Marshall, spoke in court to Finley.
“I was 11 years old when my mother was taken from me and my sister,” Marshall said. “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.”
Finley tried apologizing and expressing her regret, but one of the relatives said they didn’t want to hear it.
“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.”
