Arkansas Online

Driver off to jail in fatal ’18 crash.

Woman’s remorse questioned

JOHN LYNCH

A Bald Knob woman who killed a friend — remembered by his 10-year-old daughter as a “hero” — in a car crash four years ago was sentenced Monday to the maximum punishment for misdemeanor negligent homicide by a Pulaski County Circuit judge who questioned whether the defendant was appropriately contrite despite her courtroom apology.

The penalty imposed by Judge Cathi Compton for Jessica Renee Brawley, 30, is one year in jail and a $2,500 fine for killing Sean Patrick Leonard of Searcy in a June 2018 single-vehicle crash on Interstate 630 about three weeks after his 29th birthday. Brawley pleaded guilty earlier this month.

At Monday’s sentencing hearing, his daughter, Kira Jo Leonard, cried as she listened to her family tell the judge about how her father had died and what he meant to them. She was composed and soft-spoken during her turn on the witness stand.

“I wish my dad was here. He was my favorite person and hero,” the girl told the judge. “I miss him now and forever.”

Leonard’s father, Johnny Leonard Jr., turned toward Brawley and held up a photo of his son, saying he wanted to remind her of whom she had killed.

“I miss my son. I miss his smile,” Leonard told the judge. “I miss my son telling me he loved me and giving me a hug.”

Brawley’s “careless and thoughtless act” has inflicted “great, great sorrow” on his family, the senior Leonard said. His granddaughter still cries for her father, Leonard said, describing how he struggles to comfort her.

“It breaks my heart because there’s nothing I can do.”

Sean Leonard’s wife, Kristin Leonard, told the judge that although they had separated, they remained close. She said it took time to figure out how to explain to their daughter that her father was gone.

“It took me two days to find the words,” she said, calling Leonard “my first love.” “I’ll forever cherish the time I had with Sean.”

Both Leonard’s mother and sister remembered his outgoing personality but also told Brawley they did not believe she was really sorrowful for what she’d done. They complained about remarks Brawley made on social media that appeared flippant.

Melissa Bewley, his mother, showed photos of him in the hospital, asking whether Brawley had seen her son lying in the street in the aftermath of the crash.

“I want you to think about that all of the time” while in jail, she said. “Please stop calling this an accident. This was a choice to drive impaired.”

Sister Heather Miller said Brawley appeared to have no problems moving on with her life, pointing out that Brawley has gone on to have a second child but has never taken responsibility for the crash.

“Your lack of remorse is disgusting,” Miller said.

According to Arkansas State Police, Brawley and Leonard were in a black 2001 Land Rover Discovery driven by Brawley eastbound on Interstate 630, east of Interstate 30. Brawley ran off the road about 15 minutes before sunrise, then over-corrected to get back on the road, sending the sport utility vehicle into a skid that sent it back off the highway where it hit a concrete wall.

The impact sent the Rover into the air and over the wall, then into a rollover before landing on its side on Barber Street where the vehicle bounced, ejecting Leonard onto the street, while the SUV landed upside down.

Brawley was treated and released for her injuries, with investigators reporting that Brawley smelled like alcohol in the ambulance and that, when asked, she told a trooper she had been drinking earlier.

According to the arrest affidavit, testing showed her blood-alcohol content to be 0.14, with 0.08 the level to presume intoxication under the law.

She had been charged with Class B felony negligent homicide, which carries a 20-year maximum, but the blood tests results were ordered suppressed as the result of a finding that Brawley had been improperly coerced by Arkansas State Police into consenting to giving blood and the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.

“I wanted to tell you I’m very, very sorry with my whole being,” Brawley said at Monday’s sentencing. “I’m sorry for the accident. I’m sorry he can’t be here anymore.”

Asked by deputy prosecutor Robbie Jones to state what she’d done wrong, Brawley said she’d driven negligently, and acknowledged that she’d been drinking that night. Pressed further by the prosecutor, the mother of two said she should have made sure Leonard was wearing his seatbelt.

But Jones asked her more about her drinking that night, with Brawley stating that she was not drunk, but that she should not have been driving after drinking alcohol. Jones asked the judge to send Brawley to jail.

Her attorney Zaisha Heardmon asked the judge for probation, saying that Brawley, who had never been in serious trouble with the law before, has children ages 1 and 8 and needed to be with them instead of locked up. Brawley and Leonard had been longtime friends and she will be haunted for the rest of her life by what she’d done, the public defender said.

Further, the defense evidence showed that Brawley had improved her life and demonstrated tremendous regret, Heardmon told the judge.

Both Brawley’s mother, Janie Moore, and friend Tiffany Holccomb testified that Brawley has matured since the crash and become a more serious person focusing on her family, education and church while eschewing late-night drinking and giving up her previous job as a club dancer. The women further told the judge Brawley has been deeply sorrowful for the crash, describing how she and Leonard had been close longtime friends.

Arkansas

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2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281925956889485

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