Print
Jun 29, 2008 4:21 pm US/Eastern
Driver Sentenced To 43 Yrs. For Killing 5 From Md.
TOLEDO, Ohio (WJZ) ―
-
-
Michael Gagnon of Adrian, Mich., was sentenced to 43 years in prison.
A Michigan man was sentenced to four decades in prison Friday for driving the wrong way on an interstate and slamming his pickup truck into a minivan, killing a Maryland mother and four children who were returning home from a Christmas trip.
Suzanne Collins reports the judge told Michael Gagnon that he has a drinking problem and doesn't know it. He received 43 years in prison, seven years less than the maximum sentence.
Six months after driving the wrong way on an Ohio interstate with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit and with marijuana in his system, Michael Gagnon was in court again.
An Ohio judge gave Gagnon 43 years behind bars for killing five members of the Griffin/Burkman family as they returned home to Carney after a Christmas trip.
Bethany Griffin, 36, of Parkville, Md., and three of her daughters -- Vadi Griffin, 2 months; Lacie Burkman, 7; and Haley Burkman, 10 -- died in the crash along with Jordan Griffin, 10, the daughter of Bethany Griffin's husband, Danny Griffin Jr., 36. Danny Griffin, who was driving the van, was injured in the accident.
"I feel it's only natural to be remorseful and I'm sure just like the rest of us, he would love to have a do-over. But unfortunately in life, that's not possible," said Danny Griffin.
This is the first time Danny Griffin, who was at the wheel of the family minivan, has spoken publicly about the horror of that night.
"Right around the cement barrier wall, I saw headlights. I immediately jerked the wheel to the left and that was it. The next thing I knew I was opening up the van on my vehicle and I immediately saw my wife laying in the middle of the road," said Griffin.
At a news conference at the Ohio court, Danny Griffin was wearing wedding rings around his neck.
Danny Griffin has moved back to Michigan. But he will still visit his wife's two sons in Maryland, and he will keep speaking to high schools on behalf of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
"I'm going to do whatever I can because I do not want to see another family stand up here and have to go through this," Griffin said.
Before handing down the sentence, the judge called Gagnon a dangerous person.
"In my mind and spirit, I will be serving a life sentence for the pain I've caused," Gagnon said Friday, reading from a handwritten statement in court.
Gagnon was drinking with family at a bar on Dec. 30 to celebrate the New Year when he went out for fast-food and took a wrong turn onto Interstate 280 in Toledo, investigators said.
He won't be eligible for release until he reaches his mid-60s.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
WJZ.COM's Most Popular Slideshows
