News - Local/State

Thursday, Dec. 04, 2008

Rock Hill teen sentenced to 18 years in fatal crash

YORK — A Rock Hill teen pleaded guilty today to driving under the influence, killing a Lancaster motorcyclist and severely injuring two others in a May 24 accident.

Michael Walker Reid, 19, of 408 Homeplace Road pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence involving a death and two counts of felony DUI involving great bodily injury in the May 24 death of Peggy Landry.

The charges carried up to a 55-year prison sentence.

“You probably ought to be put in jail for 55 years for the severity of these crimes,” Judge James R. Barber III said before sentencing. “You were drinking when you shouldn’t have been. You were using marijuana when you shouldn’t have been. You were speeding when you shouldn’t have been.”

Injured during that collision were Ronald and Barbara Herring of Rock Hill. Ronald Herring suffered significant brain damage, while Barbara Herring received 200 stitches in her leg and others in her head, according to court testimony.

Barber handed down an 18-year sentence for felony driving under the influence involving death to run concurrent with a 10-year sentence each for two counts of felony DUI involving great bodily injury.

Moments later, a tearful Reid hugged his mother and father before blowing a kiss to other family members. Then officials led him out of the court room.

“I’m happy with what he got,” Barbara Herring said after court.

Peggy Landry’s fiancee, Charles Bowers, also was satisfied with Reid’s sentence.

“I don’t think it’s really going to hit him until the clang-clang and he’s sitting in there by himself looking at the bars,” Bowers said. “There’s no winners. I’ll miss Peggy for the rest of my life.”

Ronnie and Cindy Reid declined to comment after court, as did their attorney, Phil Smith.

Reid’s charges stem from a collision that happened around 4:20 p.m. May 24 on Lesslie Highway and Springdale Road, just southeast of Rock Hill. Landry and the Herrings were riding Harley Davidson motorcycles northbound on Lesslie Highway to a grill for dinner.

“There were three motorcycles that were stopped at that intersection,” Deputy Solicitor Willy Thompson said. “The defendant approached going about 71 mph. He slams his brakes on, but it’s much too late.”

About the same time, Bowers glanced over at the Herrings before the traffic light changed.

“I was looking at the (traffic) light,” Bowers recalled. “All of a sudden I felt something go pass me. The truck slid. Peggy hit the road in front of me. The bike hit the road in front of me.”

Reid slammed into the back of the bike Peggy Landry rode, Thompson said. Before the collision, he had been drinking vodka and Mountain Dew, Thompson said. “He then hit the motorcycle the Herrings were riding,” Thompson said. “That motorcycle got trapped under his truck, and then it (the motorcycle) came out. They got dragged basically across the pavement.”

Landry died at the scene. After the collision, the Herrings were flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where they were listed in critical condition. Bowers was not injured in the collision.

About two hours after the collision, Reid’s blood-alcohol level was .14, and he tested positive for marijuana, Thompson said.

Cindy Reid asked for the court’s mercy in sentencing.

“I know he made a very bad decision that day,” she said. “I know he would never want to hurt anyone, much less take a life.”

An emotional Reid pushed a pair of glasses back on top of her head. Then her son spoke.

“I’m very ashamed of my behavior,” said Michael Reid, a former Winthrop University student in pre-law. “Every night I close my eyes, I see the accident in my head.”

The Herrings also live daily with the accident. Ronald Herring remains under doctor’s care, doesn’t remember his home and sometimes can’t count backwards from 20, Barbara Herring said.

“He’s messed my life up pretty much,” Ronald Herring said via video. “I wish it hadn’t happened..... I can’t go out and get on my motorcycle, and I miss that.

Reid remains in custody this afternoon at York County Detention Center.