I just don’t understand drinking and driving

The memorial services for Thom Swift will be held on Friday, December 14, at Brett Funeral Home. Everyone is encouraged to where blue (Thom's favorite color). RIP my friend!

RIP Thom, Remember First Friday...you were like, totes fun...now to dream up the perfect Naughty Santa outfit for tomorrow's charity bar crawl I'll be working it and thinking of you...G'Night sweet Prince in Neverland!

Such a sad ending, I hope Thom is at peace.

I am Thom's cousin from Michigan. He hung himself on Wednesday night, my aunt, his mom found him on Thursday. She went to check on him, because he was not answering his phone.
Thom had a plea agreement of 5-15 years, he had spent almost all of his 401K savings from work on attorney fees and lawsuits.
The man who was killed, had a grand daughter who was the "next of kin" and she got a lawyer and filed a large lawsuit against him.
With all of this stress and the thought of going to prison, it was just to much for him.
His memorial is on Friday the 14th in Florida, his ashes will be buried in Michigan next to his brother (who died from leukemia).

may you all find some peace soon...

RIP Thom.

I'm sorry for all. Such a horrific tragedy for all involved.

I hope people will now concentrate on his life and not the mistake that led him to such a sad place. To Thom's friends and family.. you have my sincerest condolences. May he rest in peace.

what kind of agreement is that when the term is so open ended? I gather that the "agreement" was going to let the judge actually decide the jail time?

none of Barry's kids were next of kin??!! I would love to hear the back-story on that...

i think that David needs to answer for his assertion that thom would do fine with a good laywer....how is it fine when the state threw in a bogus leaving the scene charge to get the citizen to do every bit of a manslaughter charge, all for hitting a reckless vagrant? the "deal" was that thom would say he was guilty and then leave himself open for anything between the mandatory min and the whole thing in return all the state did was let go of a charge that never should have been filed in the first place. that is not a deal, that is a railroading job.

5-15 was the plea agreement he was going to agree with. He could have been paroled in 5 years, if the parole board voted for it.

5-15 is the sentence the judge imposes--meaning that a minimum of five years must be served before release. Probation might be required after release and a violation could then result in the imposition of the remaining 10 years of the sentence.

So Thom faced 5 years in prison.

It's all quite immaterial now, Hawkeye, the man is dead. Give it a rest. This is not the time for you to divert this thread with one of your usual rants about the justice system.

Let people express their condolences, and let his friends and family remember him--his life was about much more than this accident and his legal case.

He faced 5 years, Hawkeye--on a 5-15 sentence, the person is eligible for release after 5.

You seem strangely unconcerned with the fact that he gave himself a death sentence.

Good god! There are more drunk driving consequences then meet the eye, the cost are extreme, such a sad situation all around.

yep, two drunk guys are out on the road one night, neither one of them should have been there, and they meet. now they are both dead. very sad.

How would you know what he faced when his trial was set for next Friday? The same date as his funeral? You are just assuming. We know what that means. How would you even know what he was going through? Maybe just 5 years. But that is a life of having to think about it for him, plus already went through almost a year hearing about it. I'm very sure Thom read all of these post which just made him feel more guilty. He made a mistake that even the best of us do. Oh, please tell me you have NEVER EVER made a mistake. Oh please tell me that oh Mr. Super Duper Perfect hawkeye10. NOT !!! I don't even know you and even "I" know Thom was sooooooooooooo much better than you LOSER !!!!

I am so sorry for your loss. I worked with him for 16 years, and we had a grief counselor come into our work to talk to us. People were freaking out. Yelling, screaming, crying. OMG. All I could do was cry and shake so bad. He was such an awesome guy. This world lost the best guy ever that made "1" mistake. We all make mistakes, but I am so super blessed to have known him. I love him so much and I know that at his funeral....it will be standing room only. We all loved him, admired him, respected him, and thought of him as our friend no matter how high up he was at work. He NEVER threw his authority around. That is why everyone loved him so much. I'm more than sure you are proud to call him your cousin. I would be too. I am very proud to call him my co-worker and MY FRIEND FOR LIFE. I love you Thom. I thought and prayed about you all of the time. I am going to miss you soooooooooo much!!!