HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A former bar owner was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for the death of a woman who prosecutors said participated in a drinking contest involving a red, yellow and green concoction called the “Stoplight Challenge.”
Billy Leroy Scott, 34, apologized to Juanita Goodpasture’s family at the sentencing Thursday.
“If we could change things, we would,” Scott said. “I liked Juanita, she was a great person, and it’s a tragedy we lost her.”
Scott was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in September in the alcohol poisoning death of Goodpasture, 31, who had a blood alcohol content of .430 when she was found dead at her home in July 2004 after a night of drinking with her mother and sister.
The three women were drinking at The Point, a bar co-owned by Scott, when Scott served the red, yellow and green drink to Goodpasture, according to testimony.
Some said the Stoplight Challenge was used in a drinking contest; other witnesses testified the bar didn’t sponsor one.
Such games are illegal under state law, but prosecutors said patrons were refunded the $15 cost of the drink and awarded a T-shirt if they could remain coherent for 30 minutes after consuming it.
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