Right decision? Myles Keller Minnesota drunk driver sentenced 30 days jail after killing 5 year old boy. Prosecutors seek not to pursue vehicular homicide.
Disconcert has come to the fore with the announcement that 70 year old Minnesota man, Myles Keller was sentenced to only 30 days jail after fatally striking a 5 year old boy.
Keller is set to begin serving his pair of 15-day jail terms on Oct. 3, the same day that Lukas Wharton would have turned 7. The second 15 day jail period is to take place, May 24 — the anniversary of the crash that took Lukas’ life.
Told the victim’s father, Josh Wharton via the Post-Bulletin, ‘I wonder if I’ll ever feel true happiness again.’
Adding, ‘Lukas was a great kid. He loved his life … I would do anything to hold my little boy again.’
Lukas died last year, eight days after Keller drove his vehicle into the wagon that the child was riding on outside his Byron home.
At the time of his initial charging, Keller was charged with one count of reckless driving-conscious disregard of a substantial risk, a gross misdemeanor, and two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree DWI.
The 30 day sentence comes as prosecutors said there would be ‘no way to prove’ the felony charge of criminal vehicular homicide.
Fearing a protracted court case, Lukas’ family declined seeking the more serious charge of vehicular homicide.
Myles Keller BAC likely to have been between 0.081 and 0.103 at impact.
Announced prosecutor, Byron Black, ‘Anything I can say pales in comparison to those who were impacted in this case.’
Admitting there was some degree of culpability, Keller opted to take an Alford plea in July to one of the DWI charges. Black had requested the maximum 90 days in jail, but Judge Kathy Wallace decided on a two separate 15-day sentences.
Told the judge, Kathy Wallace, ‘Clearly, you were impaired,’
Adding, ‘You did the right thing, in that you stuck around afterward, but you were impaired.’
Police reports clocked Keller’s blood alcohol content (BAC) at 0.069 two hours after the crash. An expert found the number would have likely been between 0.081 and 0.103 at the time he caused Lukas’ death. The legal limit in Minnesota is 0.08.
Reiterated the judge, ‘I don’t doubt that you’re a good person, but good people do make poor choices, and there are consequences for those choices.’
Myles Keller sentencing: Had contrived to avoid detection while driving impaired.
Noted Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, ‘Keller’s driving conduct was very purposeful and deliberate in sneaking his way home,’
Adding, ‘We believe he did that because he knew he was over the (alcohol) limit and was trying to avoid detection.’
The route nearly doubled the time it normally took Keller to drive home, Ostrem said.
‘This has been a very trying time for me, to say the least,’ Keller said in court. ‘I regret the circumstance that brings me here today. This is just a tragedy, a tragedy for everyone.’
Josh Wharton said that Keller is only ‘sorry it happened to him,’ not sorry that a little boy died.
