Jul 23, 2008 5:52 pm US/Eastern
2 Families Changed After Drunk Driving Death
CECIL COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) ―
When a young woman was killed by a drunk driver and the driver sent to prison, two families were forever changed.
Suzanne Collins reports an unusual thing happened when the victim's father and the defendant's parents met in court.
When Jeffrey Vetter lost his 20-year-old daughter, Jessica, in a drunk driving crash, he was brokenhearted and filled with anger.
"It was consuming my life and my wife. She couldn't even talk to me," he said.
Michael Jacoby pleaded guilty to auto manslaughter for driving drunk into Jessica's motorcycle on York Road.
His parents were suffering, too. They'd lost one son to cancer and wondered if they'd lose another to prison.
"This tragedy...always thinking about it, the unknown as to what's going to happen to our son," said Michael's mother, Tina Jacoby.
But something unusual happened that brought the two traumatized families close. Jacoby pleaded guilty and was given 18 months in jail. He asked for nothing but forgiveness from the Vetter family.
Somehow the young man's earnest request and his parents' words of sympathy over the loss of Jessica made an impression on Jeffrey Vetter.
"That's what made me feel this was genuine remorse and that is what made me have a change of heart," he said.
Suddenly, Vetter saw a way he could find closure. He went to see Jacoby in jail and forgave him. The two also agreed to speak together at high schools about the dangers of driving drunk.
Finally, in an unusual hearing this week, Vetter appealed to a judge to release Jacoby early on home detention.
"It was wonderful. We are so grateful to the Vetter family for the mercy and forgiveness they've shown our son and fought for him that day in court," Tina Jacoby said.
Michael Jacoby was released at the detention center Monday night. His lawyer says he would not go on camera because he's been through emotional turmoil knowing he killed someone, but he will appear at high schools in the fall.
"It's going to be a hard thing for him to do but he says if something positive comes out of it and it helps other kids, it's all worth it," his father, Jim Jacoby said.
The lawyers on the case say they've never heard of another case where a victim's family member testified for the defense.
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