I hear that overcrowding is the reason these repeat offenders don't get what they deserve. Well Janesville is going to have a HUGE builing left to stand empty when GM leaves. That would solve the problem. Take that building and make it just for ALL the drunks,then we won't hear about how this is someones 3,4,5,6 even 7,8th time for a DUI.

First of all I would ask everyone that reads this to keep Trisha's family and friends in your prayers to give them strength at this time of need. Secondly, I graduated with Trish, she was always a happy, smiling refreshing face to see(not to mention she had the BEST hair :) She was so full of life, and she had the ability to make you smile and laugh at times when you didn't think you could-she will be missed tremendously. As far as everyone saying "drunk drivers need to be thrown in jail and throw away the key" we need to be realistic..that is not going to happen,so therefore I think the issue needs to be resolved starting from the root of the problem which is the disease itself "alcoholism"!!! In order to reduce the amount of drunk drivers and other alcohol related issues, REHABILITATOIN is the only way you can stop this problem. Anyone can receive jail time, and what happens after they serve they're sentence?--There they are back in society just as they were before..Alcoholism we have to remember is a DISEASE..and as any disease needs to be treated. As far as Jennifer Yelk is concerned..I actually know her too, she has 4 little girls who I feel so sorry for..Jennifer has always been the"miss know it all" type..Nothing was ever her fault..I hope she realizes how much heartache and distress she has caused So many people. I was at Trisha's wake last Monday and it was by far the most emotional service I had ever been to..it was great to see how many people came to pay they're respects to the family and friends Trisha will so sadly leave behind..Trisha as so many people have known for all the years of your life..Now you are OFFICIALLY an ANGEL..and so many people are lucky to have YOU looking over them.

When will these idiots that destroy innocent peoples lives be stopped? I also signed the petition. You people who do this even 1 time deserve the max! The victim dies and the offendor does 5 years, sounds fair to me. What a load of crap. And before all of you out there jump on and say everyone does it, YOU ARE WRONG. As far as I'm concerned the poeple who do decide to drink and drive and end up killing themselves, GOOD JOB! You just potentially saved innocent people the next time you would have decided to get behind the wheel after drinking. This is just nonsense, when will the lawmakers listen to us? If the jails/prisons are too full for these people then lets build them bigger! I'll gladly pay for more safety on our roads!

Thank you for the petition! My husband and I have both signed it.

PASS THE WORD BLOGGERS! SIGN THE PETITION NOTED BELOW!

The machines that require a driver to blow into them before driving - DO NOT WORK! They have their friends do it or they drive a different car. (The machines are not trasferable.)

We, THE MAJORITY, must pressure our representatives to take action. Losing their license and their car will make they pay attention! People still drive without a license - if they have a car. Just one more weapon off the street.

This has also hit way too close to home to me. I grew up in the same church as Trisha, we went to the same parochial school and high school. We crossed the same paths. I didn't realize who this person was until someone told me, and then I figured out who she married- another JHS alum. The Rockstrohs were always a nice family in church and Trisha was always cheerful, I even worked with her lovely grandmother when I was in high school. I always cringe at any drunk driving situation that is on the news (the Oconomowoc one was awful) but I have never been so sickened as much I as am now since I knew this girl.
P.S...cheermom93....I'm JHS class of 93 also...but we have to be anonymous here!!!

i know one of here family members and i just want to say to him that i am so sorry for everything, i miss you alot and i hope to see you soon, and nobody should go through this. i know how you feel and i hope to see you and we can talk. i love you, and dont forget that. i feel so bad for trisha, i got the phone call and he told me what had happend. if you get caught just once with drunk driving you should lose your license....it isn't fair that she is gone. i have to call him to see when the funeral is.....i am sorry kerr. :(

I agree there needs to be more strick laws about drunk driving. I have attached a link to sign a pettion to make that happen. It is up to us to change the system.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Bukosky/

I just found out that Trisha Kerr is also Trisha Rockstroh, Jefferson High School alum. She was one of the sweetest most kind people I have ever known. She was such a positive and kind human being. There is no way she ever had an enemy, my sympathy's go out to her parents and her brother and sister....

Yes, you can definitely get away with murder, IF you use a weapon that is politically correct.

the unfortunate reality is that the prisons are too full and the judge will probably give her under 10 years and then 5 or 6 years of probation. I don't know what the point is of having a "max" sentence when almost no judge in the country ever imposes those for drunk drivers. This isn't "just" a drunk driver anymore...this is a MURDER. and it should be treated as such...just as if she shot someone in in the back...because it's just as senseless and horrific.

I looked up what the max sentence is for her. She is looking at 40 years max because this isn't her first drunk driving. I agree she will probably plead out to a lesser sentence or charge. She deserves the max. Maybe she will care then.

So So sad. I have called police on a drunk driver that I was behind. My wife and I called the police and it took the cops about ten minutes to respond after the later rear ended a car stopped at the stop light (thank god nobody was hurt) the lady that was drunk had a three year old child in the van she was driving. It's just senseless. My wife and I were just cringing watching this lady weaving in and out of traffic hoping she wouldn't t-bone an innocent person. If these people get arrested for drunk driving they should have the car hooked up to those machines that they have to blow into in order for them to start. If they get arrested more than once then it should be solid jail time. If they kill someone they should get a minimum of 20 years.

I was hit by a drunk driver in Minnesota about 8 years ago. Sunday afternoon, about 1 p.m. She was driving home, with her two small kids in the back seat. No car seats, no seat belts being used. She had a birthday cake on the front seat. She came over the center line and hit me head on. Her first concern? Her wrecked cake. Not her kids. Not me or my passenger. This accident was her SEVENTH drunk driving ticket!!! These people are selfish. The best part? She had her car back for less than a week - it had been in the shop being repaired from her last drunk driving wreck! Her poor kids - watching their mom being led away in handcuffs while they waited for grandma and grandpa to come and get them from the side of the highway. Nice memory of your mom, huh? These people don't learn - they keep going. Once Jennifer gets out of jail - she'll drive drunk again and blame it on the guilt she feels for her children or Trisha. There's always an excuse and these kinds of people don't take responsibility for their actions. Let's hold them accountable. Start writing letters to your representatives. Demand that they take a leadership role in passing new laws to protect our children, parents, friends, etc.! Let's stand up and do something. Hopefully we can have something good come of this!!!!

I hope and pray that Yelk is punished to the fullest extent. But ya know what? Regardless of how much time she spends in jail, when she is released, she will drive intoxicated over and over again.

If Yelk had died in the crash it would have been a "victimless crime." 4 OWIs and a vehicular homicide. BAC of .258!!

My prayers go out to Trisha's family and friends. I know she will be greatly missed.

Not everyone has a cell phone to call the cops while in transit. People do inadvertently swerve. If you see it continue to happen ,maybe just maybe you will stop and make a call with a license plate to the cops. You certainly are not as guilty of this offense. You merely are a witness to a tragic event!! Two families will suffer . One will see they family member, hopefully in prison, while the other has lost their family member forever. My condolences to the Kerr family.

First and foremost, my heart goes out to both families. Both have suffered a great loss. We often put ourselves in the shoes of other adults. How about those children? Can you imagine going to school and being ridiculed about what your mother did? I agree with so many of the other people - WI needs to get tougher on drunk drivers. They are making a conscious decision, a greedy, selfish decision to drive drunk (or under the influence) that, in a second, changes so many lives. I agree with Trisha's godparent - take away their car on the first offense. Make it sting so they'll think twice about driving drunk again. They can't say they didn't know what they were doing because they were drunk. That's BS. Jennifer knew exactly what the judge said in court - she wasn't drunk then! She made a decision - a very poor one at that and who's left to pay? The two families. Nice decision, Jennifer. Nice.

I spoke with Jenny after she was booked into the Jefferson County Jail. She was making excuses rather than being remorseful. She said she started drinking again (supposedly clean since October 2007) because her step-father was drinking. She said that Trisha died because she wasn't wearing a seat belt. She said she wasn't even drunk. She said she swerved because her cell-phone dropped , later she said that she dropped her phone in the toilet at the bar and was trying to shake it out when the accident happened. She was more worried about not letting her kids go to their father, the new carton of cigarettes she had in her SUV, and that her SUV was new rather than the welfare of Trisha. She showed no guilt and spoke of it as if it were nothing. She seemed to feel sorry for herself for being in there, and for her 4 year old daughter whom she thinks won't remember her. I feel so sorry for her daughters that have to live with what their mother did. Her daughter MADE her pray for Trisha. I also read the police report saying that someone was following her for quite some distance and saw her swerving the whole time. I'm wondering why he didn't call the police. The only excuse I can think of is he didn't have a cell phone. If he did he is almost just as guilty and this accident could have possibly been prevented. So if he did have a cell shouldn't he be charged with something too? If he didn't have a cell I apologize for what I said. It also said that the person's house it happened in front of came out to the scene and said Jenny just kept asking for a cigarette, maybe she was too drunk to even know what she had done or she didn't care. I am so disgusted with her. I saw her cry twice first because she was trying to get some things sent to her and second when her daughter made her pray with her for Trisha. My heart goes out to all of Trisha's family and friends as well as Jenny's family. She also spoke about almost getting a child abuse charge previously because her daughter got a ride home from someone who had been drinking (she said she had been drinking too that's why she didn't pick up her daughter) she said she pulled her daughter out of the car by her hair and was also making excuses for that. I HEARD second hand she said that she was on her way to pick her kids up when the accident happened,. What does that say about what type of person she is if it's true. It is time Jennifer takes responsibility for all of her actions and I am so anxious to see her put in prison. She seems to think she will only get 10 years, and after she gets out she will get her job back doing construction. I hope she she doesn't get a chance.

I feel terrible for the families that have had to deal with this. Wisconsin definitely needs to do something about their drunk driving laws.I think 1st offense one month in jail, 2nd-6months in jail, 3rd-one year in jail, and after that they should lock them up and throw away the key. If, they haven't learned their lesson by then they never will and sending them to AA is crap because they are still out doing the same thing. Not all but a majority of them.

My children go to school with the Yelk children and my heart first and foremost goes out to the Kerr family. My condolences and sympathy goes to them, I am sorry for your loss. Secondly, I do feel for the Yelk kids. They have a long road of heartache and pain ahead of them. If I could say something to Jennifer I would ask her if it was worth it...she ruined so many peoples lives....

My beautiful, full-of-life Godchild is gone at 30 and her family & friends are left to grieve the huge loss. After how many drunk driving offenses do we keep allowing these dangerous criminals out on the roads to repeat again and murder and maim? Five chances? Ten? What is wrong in this state? The killer in this case was as dangerous as any impaired person with a loaded gun looking for someone to shoot. Just two weeks ago it was a man in Oconomowoc who kills a mother and her young daughter. Another multiple repeat offender! This time it's too close to home for me. Certainly after the third time, we don't send them back out on the roads with a blessing and a wag of the finger and a little wink that they shouldn't drink and drive again. Everyone can make a mistake, but at what point do we crack down and take their vehicles away and sell them to support drunk driving awareness? If a friend lets them use the vehicle, that friend's vehicle is taken away. THIS HAS TO STOP! And the courts in Dane County are just as responsible for Trisha's death as far as I'm concerned. In fact, we all have a responsibility to bear here.

Trisha was a friend and former co-worker of mine. She was a great person and will be deeply missed. She was always in a good mood and always had a smile. To John and her family my thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. To Jennifer (the driver of the other vehicle) I hope that you get a stiff sentence and that you have your freedom taken away like Trisha did. You obviously didn't learn from your 3 previos OWI's. Just always remember that because of your senseless act an innocent woman has lost her life

No, I'm sorry Benneton01, you are killed in an accident, if you pass a week after the accident you die. The headline was misleading but now has changed.

problem solved....

Sorry TJ but people DIE of old age. When their life is ended by a DRUNK driver they were KILLED.(Murdered might be more apprpriate)

Another bad headline. She was not killed Thursday, she died Thursday. The accident happened the eighth.

You know it is an addiction but why oh why do they keep getting behind the wheel of a car? Drink youself silly, who cares, but why do they keep driving? I just don't get it.

When will people get a clue and not drink and drive and when will our laws change to have stronger penalties for drunk driving?????? It's just like student behavior in the schools. When they know they will only get a "slap on the wrist" or less, they keep the behavior ongoing. Yes, I know that many of these drunk drivers have an addiction. It's so obvious by their repeated behavior that the current system is not treating the actual problem. This whole situation is so sad!!!