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Teen gets seven years in drunken-driving homicide

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

A tearful Krystal Hart exits a Walworth County courtroom in January of 2009 and takes a last look at where her family and friends were sitting. Hart was given a total 7 years in prison for homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle and two counts of bail jumping when she was apprehended while intoxicated.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Walworth County Judge James Carlson looks towards the attorneys and Krystal Hart as he passes sentence on the 17-year-old Genoa City woman. Hart was given a total of 7 years in prison for a collection of alcohol related crimes including the death of a man in a drunk driving auto accident.

ELKHORN — Krystal Hart sobbed as she apologized, saying she'll ever be able to understand the pain she caused the night she chose to drink and drive.

"I'm so sorry," she said in court Friday. "There isn't even a word to describe how horrible I feel or how much remorse I have for what I've done."

But while trying to put herself into the shoes of the victim's family, the 17-year-old Genoa City girl seemed to predict her own sentence.

"I'd want her to pay for what she caused," Hart said.

Walworth County Judge James Carlson sentenced Hart to seven years in prison and six years extended supervision in the Nov. 3, 2007, drunken-driving crash that killed Everardo Chimal-Lopez, 54, of Delavan. She also was accused of violating her bond by getting drunk at parties in March and September.

Hart pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, bail jumping and obstructing an officer. An additional bail jumping charge was dismissed because the violation happened while she was mistakenly charged as an adult in the drunken-driving homicide.

Three members of the Chimal-Lopez family spoke in court Friday. As they wept, they asked the judge not for the maximum sentence but for a fair sentence that would do justice for a hard-working man who came to the United States from Mexico so his family would have a better life.

District Attorney Phil Koss said despite arguments that Hart is a child who made a mistake, she engaged in adult behavior and now must face adult consequences—prison, not probation.

"This is just too serious," he said. "It would unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offense if probation were imposed."

But defense attorney James Martin said prison would not allow Hart to be appropriately rehabilitated for her alcohol problems.

"She understands her actions have had terrible consequences, and her consumption of alcohol aggravates the crime, but it doesn't warrant sending her to prison," he said. "Significant punishment and consequences? Yes. But prison? No."

Before announcing his decision, Carlson called the drunken-driving death "too serious an offense" not to deserve prison time.

Hart, speaking from a written statement, said not a day goes by that she doesn't think about that night.

"I carry this burden with me always," she said, tears streaming down her face. "There isn't anything I do without thinking about what I've caused.

"I'm the one who caused all your pain and suffering but know that you're not alone. I feel a pain and guilt stronger than anything I've ever felt," she said.

"If I could go back in time, I would, but one thing I can do is change me."