I am reposting this here thanks to Robin’s suggestion. Jayson was an active part of this community and the man behind the phrase “Get it”, that is tattooed on a few IAM members. His death was such an untimely waste and his killer, although accidental, was a habitual offender and shouldn’t get off with such a small penalty.
As some of you probably know, April 17, 2010 would’ve been Jayson Kilroy’s 30th birthday. He and his friend, Edgar Juarez, were killed August 6, 2008 by Barbara Thomas. She was charged with 2 counts of Vehicular Homicide, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Driving with a Restricted License (for prior DUIs), and she was not wearing her glasses when she struck & killed them.
She was sentenced to 3 years in jail. Three years for two lives. As if that isn’t bad enough, she has a parole hearing May 1,2010. If she is granted parole, she could be released as early as July 26, 2010. If that is the case, she will have served just over 1 year in jail for killing Jayson and Edgar. If you can, please email Tim Hand, head of the Colorado Department of Corrections Parole Board to oppose her release:
Tim Hand, Deputy Director, Regional Operations
940 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 763-2420
[email protected] Thank you.When you write, please don’t be rude. Politely, but firmly make your point.
BME/News and Modblog highlight only a small fraction of what
keeping her in jail is going to make the world a better place exactly how…?
The woman is obviously a danger to her self and the community she resides in. Shes had prior DUIs and this time her actions did kill 2 innocent, law abiding people. I’m kind of surprised she may be getting off this light. She deserves time in jail because she’s a repeat offender and to prevent her from harming anyone else.
A link to a newspaper article about what happened or some sort of court documents (not everyone posts everything online though..) would give this cause some more legitimacy…
Here’s the news story, from his IAM page http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/26363739.html
at whatev. are you serious dude? jail is meant for people like this. This lady obviously has substance abuse issues, and if she reaches a point that she kills people before she checks herself into rehab, then jail is the best place for her because it makes her to lean how to function without substances. Hopefully, The longer shes in, the more permanent this transition will be.
She needs to be in prison not jail!
just needed to say this , i hate that stupid beta.bmezine … i want the old galleries back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
people don’t realize what a complete waste of resources it is to keep someone like her in jail. Everyone is so concerned about “justice” that they are forgetting logic. jail turns people who commit negligent crimes into people who start committing hard crime. not to mention all the tax money it is taking to feed her and keep her behind bars. community service would be so much better for a situation like this. This woman obviously made a serious mistake but she didn’t set out to murder these boys in cold blood. i support her being eligible for parole (don’t jump to conclusions, im not making light of what she did) and hopefully she will take that chance and turn her life around in honour of the boys she killed.
Lived with a non-recovering alcoholic for 3yrs. The taxpayers were most likely paying for her before the accident and they will pay for her if and when she gets out. Why not keep the community a safer place by keeping her locked up at least for the (unfortunately limited) time she was originally sentenced to serve for killing two people.
It would be a travesty to be out of jail after such a short period of time. It sends the wrong message, is an insult to the victims, and from the information presented at trial, she is a habitual offender. She would be a continuing threat to the community.
thanks for posting this & getting us the info,if it would have been someone modified i bet theyd be in for a real long time!
A ‘serious mistake’ seems like an understatement in my opinion. The woman was driving with a restricted license, as well as under the influence of drugs, and not wearing her prescription lenses. Obviously restricting her license didn’t do much good, and this wasn’t her first offence. More so, the woman is 63! You’d think she would have learned by now…
I say keep her in for a few more years…she took two lives because she obviously had no regard when getting behind the wheel, and she deserves the 3 years at the very least. Or even a court ordered rehab program that keeps her out of society until she realizes what she did. Allowing repeat offenders to get off so easy only sends the message that they can do it again without receiving harsh penalties.
varevinc – It isn’t going to happen. BME has to move forward. Change is hard but it’s something that has to happen in order for BME to grow.
To get back on topic, a few years ago one of my good friends was coming home from a family wedding. Her husband was driving. She was in the passenger seat. Their youngest, still an infant, was in the back. Their other two girls were not with them (thankfully). As they were coming home, someone who had been drinking decided that he should race cars on a two-lane highway. He was on the wrong side of the road and coming right at my friends. They ended up in a ditch, their vehicle rolled several times before coming to a stop. Thankfully they were not seriously hurt and the baby was unharmed thanks to her car seat.
The young guy driving either truly didn’t care or was putting on a tough act because he showed zero remorse for the fact that he could have killed my friend, her husband and their infant child. I don’t think he even got jail time but I don’t remember right now.
I don’t know what the answer is but I really wish that people would think of others before getting behind the wheel of a car after they’ve been drinking. While my friend and her family were able to walk away from the ordeal, so many innocent people are not.
I tend to be of the mind that once you’ve taken a person’s life due to your own selfishness and stupidity, you have permanently lost the privilege to have a driver’s license. I wish people would just learn to call a cab. Or call a friend. Whatever you have to do but don’t get behind the wheel of your car…
I just clued in that it says driving under the influence of drugs, not alcohol. Either way though, impaired is impaired and I doubt there’s anywhere anyone needs to go so badly that they can’t either call a cab or a friend to take them there…
The loss of life is tragic and no amount of jail time will be sufficient to those that have lost. I believe her habitual violation of established driving laws should exempt her from a possible parole after just a year. I believe the full 3 years should be served with a required substance abuse program. I feel for the friends and family of Jayson and hope the pain and anger subside soon.
Jason’s death sucked
Edgar’s too.
Whatev: you are a douche and probably drink and drive all the time.
Krystal: this woman should be severely punished. I dont agree with feeding and clothing her either, so how about we just line up the offenders and put a 1 dollar bullet in their heads. Problem solved.
My cousin was murdered the same way as this young man. You people dont give a shit because you havent been directly affected.
I will be emailing that parole board.
the problem is not really this woman specifically. i can guarantee there is no amount of punishment that will make her stop drinking, or bring these to men back to life. if you shoot her in the head, DUI will still be a huge problem and so will car-related deaths. these things are death machines that run on blood, and alcohol is venom from the serpent’s mouth. also, it’s very scary that at any moment you could be driving down the road minding your own business and be killed. never the less jail and prison are not rehabilitative institutions and play directly into the vicious cycle. they want us to kill each other. R.I.P
it’s not about her killing them, it’s about them meeting their fate
the time is to die and how that happend not important
we all already dead
I just hope he’s cycling somewhere safer…
Hey, lets not forget to judge woman we don’t know! Sure she may have had problems but we don’t know her or her situation so let’s lock her up. She’s 63 so she MUST have know what she’s doing, it’s not like alcoholism’s a real thing anyway…
Admittedly, I know fuck all. It just seems like when someone has a tattoo, justice must be done. What about the other side of the story?
Already I realise my comment sounds overly harsh. I just know this woman will feel the full extent of the law, when it seems like she doesn’t know what the hell she is doing. It is so incredibly sad that such good people died I just don’t think someone in such need of help should be penalised so harshly. Perhaps I’m just a hippy at heart.
Holly,
With all due respect, that was the most moronic comment I’ve ever read, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Nice attempt at back-peddling, by the way. Regardless of her problems, she killed 2 people, one of whom had just recently become a father, and the fact that she could get off with such minimal punishment is appalling. You think a 3 year sentence for taking two people’s lives is a harsh penalty? I just don’t even know what to say to that.
The fact that he has a tattoo has nothing to do with anything. The post was made on this page because he had many friends and was part of the community.
This infuriates me to no end. I cannot stand people who drive after drinking or doing drugs.
#1 she should be in jail for the rest of her life! She knowingly got into her car & then killed two people
#2 she obviously need alcohol & drug treatment.
The penalties for people who kill someone while under the influence is ridiculous. People don’t learn their lesson & it doesn’t sink in because no one gets more than a slap on the wrist.
Obviously only taking this woman’s license away won’t stop her & the only thing that will is being behind bars or in treatment. Hopefully with some real addiction treatment she can function as a normal person. Being in jail while being an addict doesn’t solve it, she needs real treatment.
I am thankful everyday of my life that the night my father drove drunk he was the only one he hurt. I couldn’t live knowing someone I know & love did something so ridiculous.
Holly, Seriously “it’s not like alcoholism’s a real thing anyway…”
I’m an addictions counsellor and just because you are an addict doesn’t mean it justifies your stupid decisions. What about the alcoholics & addicts who molest their children while under the influence, or rape someone, or kill someone with a gun, knife etc? I suppose they don’t need punishment either simply because they have a real problem.
Here is an article about the sentencing:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/thomas-56029-judge-bicyclists.html
June 08, 2009 5:10 PM
HAILEY MAC ARTHUR
THE GAZETTE
In a courtroom filled with dozens of bicyclists — some in cycling shorts and others with helmets hanging at their side — 64-year-old Barbara Thomas said she was sorry. She said she wished it had been her. She said she felt badly for the two men she killed and their families.
But, as Thomas hunched over in her wheelchair Monday, 4th Judicial District Judge Gilbert A. Martinez said her crime was reckless and caused the most serious harm: the deaths of bicyclists Jayson Kilroy, 28, and Edgar “E.J.” Juarez, 30.
He sentenced Thomas to three years in prison for plowing her one-ton pickup truck into a group of five bicyclists on Aug. 6, 2008, killing the two men. At the time, she was driving under the influence of prescription morphine and barbiturates and without her required glasses. Her sentence is three years shy of the maximum six years under a plea bargain.
“If this defendant could make restitution,” said Martinez, looking down from his bench at the woman on 18 daily prescriptions for pulmonary disease and arthritis, “it wouldn’t be such a difficult case. You can’t make restitution for death.”
As she faced the judge about to sentence her on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, Thomas at first declined to address the court. Only with the prodding of her defense attorney did she apologize in four unprepared sentences.
Thomas struck and killed the men at S. 26th Street, minutes after leaving the West Colorado Avenue Safeway. Police said she had been shoplifting and banged into a man’s car in the parking lot before driving off. The man followed her and saw her hit the bicyclists as she tried to turn left onto Westend Avenue — without yielding to oncoming traffic — in her 1986 Ford F-350. Police found her speech slurred and her eyes bloodshot, according to an arrest affidavit.
The court summarized her history: four convictions of shoplifting dating back to 1983, drinking in a vehicle, careless driving and minor traffic infractions. She had no prior history of driving under the influence, according to court documents. But she had an outstanding summons for a hit-and-run two months before the collision.
Thomas, who pleaded not guilty, sat in bedroom slippers as she listened to wrenching statements from the families and friends of the two bicyclists. Three of her daughters described her as kind and selfless. She showed no emotion, until court officers began to roll her away with an oxygen tank in her lap.
Thomas begged the judge to let her spend time at home with family before going to prison. She struggled to lift herself out of her wheelchair, pleading for sympathy.
“Oh, my god!” she cried out. “Don’t take me.”
Family members of the victims sat in the front row, including Rita Kilroy, Jayson’s mother from St. Claire Shores, Mich. She told the court he was her only child and the most valuable part of her life. His death took her identity, her happiness, her peace.
“I run through in my mind,” she said through tears, “how he must have felt. Did it hurt? Was he scared?”
Then she collapsed. Draped around her neck was a silver necklace, and just below her collar bone dangled a heart engraved with her son’s picture.
Outside the courtroom, escaping the past 10 months for a moment, she looked up at Pikes Peak. She pointed to the Incline. She used to bike the trail with her son.
“Every time I made it a little further,” she said slowly, “but I never made it. I’m going to try again tomorrow.”
To the person that said alcoholism isn’t a real thing, you are a MORON. I’ve suffered the consequences of drugs and alcohol first and second hand my whole entire life. I’m clean and sober and thank fucking god for that. It’s horrible that things like this happen. I think they should make all cars come with breathalizers and you can’t drive them unless you pass as TOTALLY sober. As far as drugs go, I don’t know what you could do about that, sheesh. And this woman was 63?! I think she should serve jail time and then go straight to rehab. I think she should be spontaneously drug tested for like a year too. Whatever. I’m just dreamin’.
In my opinion, it isn’t up to us to judge this woman. Whether or not she killed someone in the modified community, she was put through a trial and it was decided what her sentence would be. I don’t know how much everyone here knows about the court system, but the court sets stipulations for early release on parole as a possibility…most likely she had to go through a rehabilitation program. These programs DO change people. And this woman served the sentence set by the judge. That is justice whether you believe in it or not.
As such, I will not support but will not hinder her parole status.
Also, @16….I HAVE been affected. And to say that we should murder anyone who drinks and drives is such a ridiculous notion. Yes, I think drunk driving is bad. But it does not warrant death, even if it kills a busload of small children.
#23 YES it does warrant death. ESPECIALLY IF IT KILLS A BUSLOAD OF CHILDREN. God…..what is wrong with u???? Too busy being liberal and open minded to see the reality of the situation? Take your head out of your ass. You cant change people, they are who they are.
Shame when this happens. Remember a similar occasion here in Sweden a few years back, a drunk driver killed an old lady and her grandchild, he got one year and was out after 6 months due to “good behaviour”.
The punishments for drunken driving are horribly low, apparently even so in the US, land of punishments and prisons. The license is of course revoked at the scene, but she should be able to get it back, we can’t assume she’s a horrible person because of a mistake like this.
Accidents happen, as long as we all want drugs to be available, which we do (or could you live without that beer or joint for the rest of your life?) this is what happens, and we must accept it, sadly it’s kinda hard to accept when it comes so close to us.
I’m not going to comment on the death penalty debate here because she’s not up for the death penalty.
She should be behind bars for MUCH longer that 3 years for killing 2 innocent people due to her recklessness and selfishness. The world would be safer with her behind bars, because she obviously doesn’t care that she puts other people’s lives in danger, and will probably continue to do so until she detoxes and has to face some serious punishment for what she did. She also has no respect for the law as she drove with a suspended license as well. I don’t think that “the other side of the story” is too relevant here, only because her negligence KILLED two people. She belongs in jail so she can’t harm anyone else or herself, and I agree with the people that think that jails were built for people like her – she’s a repeat offender and she just killed two people. Just because it was an accident doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve a jail sentence – she was being selfish and negligent to the point that other people died because of her.
Shonna: if you feel the solution to a problem like this is ( a crime not committed in cold blood) is a bullet to the head than you are greatly disturbed.
BTW: my best friend was killed by a drunk driver. so if i haven’t been directly affected, than i don’t know who has. you seem to jump to a lot of conclusions about a lot of people, Shonna, and it’s not going to get you far in life.
and one more point for Shonna: Im one of the most conservative people you’ll ever meet, ( wasn’t directed at me but felt you’d be surprised to know) and I find your extremist views a little offensive.
shonna: why yes, i do drink all the time. however, i don’t drive; i never bothered getting a driving license as i believe i’m too fucked in the head to be able to drive safely. it’s not that i don’t care that someone was killed, it’s just that i don’t think locking someone who obviously has issues up is going to solve anything. prison just destroys people even more. and i don’t believe in justice, so i don’t believe in destroying people for wrong-doing or whatever you want to call it.
I don’t think that capital punishment / an eye for an eye / whatever is really needed. It requires a lot more in terms of trying someone.
I’m not a US citizen (actually, I’m Canadian)… but I think that revoking her license and removing her ability to own any vehicles / ever acquire a driver’s license again might be a start. As well as having her serve her full sentence (which I am still confounded as to why it’s so short… that type of thing happens here in Canada all the time, but in Colorado? Really?!)
I don’t know if the driver was intoxicated on her own or if she was with friends, but if she WAS with other people when she was “partaking”… well, they should have taken away her keys. She has a history, for goodness’ sakes!
Both the American and the Canadian legal systems have definite issues.
I think we have the right to judge this woman. Read the article that Sarah posted. I can’t imagine how Jason’s mother felt. This is absolutely horrible and I can feel nothing other than disgust towards this woman.
FYI
I sent an email to Tim Hand and got the following response:
Ms. O’Connor,
The Division of Adult Parole, Community Corrections and YOS is not responsible for making decisions on offenders being released to parole status. Release decisions and conditions of parole are made by the members who are appointed to the State Board of Parole. We (division) are responsible for the supervision and monitoring offender behavior for those who have been released to serve their period of parole.
I have copied the parole board with my response along with your email concerning this case.
Tim Hand, Deputy Director of Operations
Division of Adult Parole, Community Corrections and YOS
Colorado Department of Corrections
@starred_and_scarred
Thank you for posting that. When I called the DOC, the woman I talked to told me Tim Hand was the person to contact, so I emailed him (I haven’t gotten a reply yet) and posted his email. Shit! I don’t have the name of the woman who gave me his address. In your reply, did Mr Hand give you the address of the right person/people to contact?
Sorry to post again. am a little slow today. Obviously from the email he didn’t include the addresses. Sorry for the stupid message!
Sarah and I are actively working on getting the ACTUAL correct email of the person involved in parole hearings.
Here’s the long and short of my opinion.
A group of people were riding their bikes home. A woman who was supposedly fleeing the scene of a crime (shoplifting) was on HEAVY un-prescribed medication, without glasses and a suspended license and struck and killed 2 of the people riding.
It doesn’t matter that the people were tattooed. The reason it was modblogged was it was a person from our community.
This woman made a choice to do what she did and therefore needs to pay the consequence of her actions. It’s not like she crashed into a mailbox and ruined some property. 2 people are DEAD. They had almost 30 years lived. Family, friends, jobs, hobbies, dreams…gone. Because someone felt the need to be irresponsible. I’m not saying she should be put to death or beaten or whatever. The courts debated this at length and they decided on 3 years for 2 deaths. In the end, Jayson and EJ’s parents were even at peace with this. But let her serve her term. There is no “good behavior” for taking away 2 peoples lives.
Let the people who loved these guys get a little peace that the person who took them away is getting her punishment for her actions. She doesn’t deserve to be rewarded with any more leniency than she’s been given.
Sure Holly… Let’s NOT judge a woman who murdered two people. seriously?
She murdered two people.
in reply to Krsytal who posted a comment in the beginning which included: :”jail turns people who commit negligent crimes into people who start committing hard crime”
this lady is 63. if this stint in jail turns her into someone who commits harder crimes…she has bigger issues.
do you feel that no one should be in jail? Some people deserve it as a punishment. This lady is one of them
Why is Modblog being used for posts like this? Leave it, for god sake. Take it else where.
she is 63, she should have her head on her shoulders and take care problems but obviiouzly she cant, she has a problem with drugs , which caused her to commit a crime killing 2 indivuduals, and not a harsher sentence why.
they are offering her a parole, why is a good question. does she have total understanding of what she has done , maybe. i cant come to a decision as i dont have all the facts. now here is a another question, did she kill them with intention of commiting murder, no that is probably why they are letting her out, on a short sentence.
pheonx i didnt read your messege until after i sent mine,
#30
Shonna, your view of life is horrible. WTF are you talking about “you can’t change people”?? People can’t change, is that what you’re seriously trying to say? You seem to have serious issues..
I have read the article twice….just to check…”she was driving under the influence of prescription morphine and barbiturates”….”18 daily prescriptions for pulmonary disease and arthritis”….”four convictions of shoplifting dating back to 1983, drinking in a vehicle, careless driving and minor traffic infractions. She had no prior history of driving under the influence, according to court documents. But she had an outstanding summons for a hit-and-run two months before the collision”
SO what I can see is this woman…..had 6 convictions in almost 30 years…..but did a hit and run 2 months previously..and seems to be very sick. I dont know if any of you have had an illness where you get treated with heavy pain killers. I know that sometimes a new medication can have you in a state that you dont know how you got somewhere but you think “The doctor gave it to me it must be fine”. This woman should not have been driving in anyway. However she seems to have that bloody minded independence that says…I am going to get out there and get on with my life regardless. An attitude that gets people though illness and this time took the life of 2 innocent people. This woman thought she was more in control than she actually was….and everyday million of people do the same thing but with cups of coffee in there hands, taking calls on cellphones, changing the radio or all the other thing we do when driving because we know what we are doing. Should she serve the time she was given….yes….is she a repeat offender hardened criminal…no. However like people have said before….hating on this women is not going to bring the boys back….and all the bad feeling is just making the world more hateful. Why not celebrate the life’s and the happiness the boys brought instead of directing hate and energy to the lady that took that away?
Speaking as an inmate bride–jail is REALLY, REALLY good for a lot of people. I say keep her there for the full sentence.
She should serve the full 3 years. It’s not much time to take out of your own life when you took so many years off of two other individuals lives.
I reject the idea of calling their deaths an “accident” or a “mistake.” She knew exactly what she was doing at the time. Someone like that does not deserve any vocabulary less than “murderer.”
HOW THE FUCK do you hit a group of five cyclists and then act like you’re sorry? You were high off your ass on whatever substance, didn’t have your glasses, are so old you more than likely shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car anyway AND have a prior incident behind you? This is fucking stupid. She deserves to spend the rest of her life in jail, not three years. You take a life, you get life. That’s how it should be.