Of all the words spoken last week in Circuit Judge Cynthia Cox’s courtroom, where the young woman charged with killing 16-year-old Cole Coppola in a DUI-related accident in September 2014 was sentenced to seven years in prison, none were more compelling than those uttered by the boy’s grandmother.
“I want all of you to understand that this is a preventable crime,” Mary Lou Ciambriello told the crowded room at the Indian River County Courthouse, where both she and Coppola’s father, Nicholas, were permitted to address the court.
“This is an unnecessary crime,” she added. “This is a sad and tragic crime, not just for us but for her . . . for all of us.”
Ciambriello went on to cite statistics she had gathered while researching the damage done by drunk drivers – a mission that she said has been part of her “journey to heal” – and she invited those in the room to go online and do the same.
She then reminded everyone that her grandson was only 27 hours into his 16th year when his bicycle was struck by Jamie Williams’ car near the crest of the 17th Street Bridge and knocked over the guard rail and into the Indian River Lagoon below.
“There’s no excuse,” she said, “for getting in a car when you’ve been drinking.”
It was a powerful statement that echoed throughout an emotionally draining afternoon filled with sadness, hugs and tears.
For the record:
– Williams, now 23, formally accepted a plea deal that sent her to prison for up to seven years, though the sentence requires she serve a mandatory minimum of only four years.
– With good behavior, Williams can expect to be out in six years, possibly sooner. Whenever she is released, she will then be on probation for another three years.
– The deal was negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell and Williams’ Melbourne-based attorney, Alan Landman, after Coppola’s family agreed to the terms.
“This family exhibited a quality of mercy you don’t often see in the criminal justice system,” Gosnell said, adding, “They’re obviously still very upset. They’ve lost their son or their grandson or their brother, so it’s never going to be over for them.”
Said Landman: “Both sides tried to find a resolution.”
Had the case gone to trial, Williams faced a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, just on the DUI manslaughter charge. She also was charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana – a misdemeanor for which Cox, in accordance with the plea deal, sentenced her to the five days in jail she had already served.
Gosnell said Coppola’s family “wasn’t afraid” to take the case to trial, but, “They wanted this case to be over with.”
Apparently, so did Williams, who, in accepting the state’s deal, changed her plea from “not guilty” to “no contest.” Technically, she didn’t plead guilty, though she agreed to go to prison and will live the rest of her life as a felon.
She also must live the rest of her life haunted by what happened on the bridge.
“She has accepted the role she played in the accident,” Landman said of Williams, who police say was driving with a blood-alcohol content of .144, above the legal limit of .08, when she was tested after the crash occurred at 1:45 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2014.
However, Landman said Williams maintains that she did not cause the accident – that her car did not drift into the bike lane and that Coppola’s bicycle veered into her lane of traffic, possibly because he became leg-weary from pedaling up a long, steep incline.
Both sides had expert witnesses prepared to offer opposite opinions on that matter.
Without a trial, we’ll never really know. Meaningful questions will remain unanswered. Important details will remain a mystery. And, at this point, maybe it’s better this way.
One young life was ended. Another young life has been severely damaged. No questions, no details, no trial will change what happened on that bridge.
The only good that can come from it are the lessons we can learn from the costly mistakes that were made – which, it appears, is what Coppola’s grandmother was trying to tell us.
Ciambriello was absolutely correct when she said this was a preventable, unnecessary crime and that there’s no excuse for driving drunk. Maybe, if Williams hadn’t been drinking, Coppola might still be alive today.
Maybe Williams’ car wouldn’t have drifted into the bike lane, if you believe the state’s version of the incident. Or maybe she would’ve reacted quicker and swerved to avoid the teen’s bicycle as he veered into her lane of traffic, if you believe her account of the crash.
Either way, Williams was driving with a blood-alcohol content well above the legal limit, which is indefensible. She is responsible for the consequences of her actions. That’s why she’ll spend most of what’s left of her 20s in prison.
But there’s another lesson to be learned here – one that neither Ciambriello nor Coppola’s father mentioned in their courtroom remarks, one that no one wants to talk about in the wake of such a loss.
And it’s this: Kids shouldn’t be riding bicycles around town unsupervised at 1:45 a.m., especially across a bridge.
So Coppola made a mistake, too, when he and his two buddies, Hunter Kraaz (then 15) and Bradley Moll (then 14), ventured out at a time when too many drivers are on their way home from a bar.
This is not to assess blame but to point out a lesson.
Teenagers sometimes do stupid things, and in the worst of circumstance, they can sometimes pay for their mistakes with their lives.
There are reasons parents have rules. There are reasons parents punish kids when those rules are broken. There are reasons parents feel such a need to protect their kids from danger.
In some cases, teens don’t fully understand why.
This is why.
“There is no plea, sentence or legal proceeding that can reverse our loss,” the Coppola family said in an emailed statement. “We hope, however, that people will be reminded of the devastating impact that drinking and driving can have on the lives of others.”
Let’s also hope parents are using this tragedy to explain to their kids why setting and enforcing rules is so important. And let’s hope our kids, jarred by Coppola’s death, get the message.
If that happens, something good will have come from something terrible.
The mistakes made on that ill-fated night on the 17th Street Bridge were as preventable and unnecessary as they were tragic.