JEFFERSON COUNTY – Cory McLaughlin was drunk and driving about 100 mph when his car slammed into another, instantly killing a 46-year old grandmother on her way to work.
On Thursday, McLaughlin was sentenced to 12 years in prison for vehicular homicide while driving under the influence.
The children of Linda Howard, who was killed on Jan. 5, 1999, said they found some comfort in the sentence, the maximum allowed by law.
“Even when it’s over, it doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t make everything go away,” said Ben Howard, Linda’s 23-year-old son. “But we’re very happy with it.”
Ben Howard and his sister, Jenny Howard, 26, said their mom’s joy in life was playing with her grandchildren, including two who were born just six day’s apart.
“That was her favorite thing to do, get both babies together,” Jenny Howard said.
Damian Benjamin Howard, Ben’s son, and Kodarra Linda Howard, Jenny’s daughter, were less than 12 months old when their grandmother died.
Linda Howard also had two other grandchildren, 7-year-old Sebastian and 5-year-old Mariko. Linda Howard lived with her daughter at the time of her death.
“It’s hard. The house is lonely, and I miss the support and friendship,” Jenny Howard said. “She was pretty much my best friend. I keep hoping it is all a bad dream, but I know better than actually believing that.”
McLaughlin was driving a 1991 Chevrolet Camaro at 98 mph in a 40 mph zone when it crashed into Howard’s 1997 Saturn at West 100th Avenue and Oak Street.
McLaughlin’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.167 two hours after the collision. The state’s legal intoxication level for DUI is 0.1. Prosecutor Scott Storey likened the combination of speed and alcohol to “firing a gun into a crowd.”
“Somebody was going to get killed,” he said. “(Linda Howard) was in the wrong place at the the wrong time.” Ben Howard’s wife, Kendee, is pregnant. The baby girl they expect in June will never know her grandmother.
“(McLaughlin) cheated us out of a lot,” Ben Howard said.