By Jim Haley
Herald Writer
A drive into the woods for a summer evening party 17 months ago was costly for Jamie Laffey and Ryan A. Meyers.
Laffey, a 17-year-old from Orange City, Fla., lost his life.
Besides the agony of knowing he was responsible, Meyers learned Tuesday he also would lose up to 15 months of freedom.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman sentenced Meyers to prison following the now 20-year-old’s guilty plea to vehicular homicide.
Meyers, of Edmonds, was driving a 1989 Ford pickup along a U.S. Forest Service road on Aug. 5, 2000, when the vehicle plunged over a 40-foot embankment not far from Skykomish and came to rest in the Beckler River.
Meyers and two others were in the cab, but Laffey was riding in the truck bed. Laffey was pinned between the truck and a rock in the river, court documents say.
Deputy prosecutor Kathleen Webber said there had been drinking that evening, but she didn’t charge Meyers with being intoxicated, as frequently happens in vehicular homicide cases. Instead, she alleged that he drove the pickup "with disregard for the safety of others."
Among other things, it was several hours after the accident before he arrived at a hospital where a blood sample was taken to determine his alcohol level, she said.
Regardless of the drinking, defense lawyer Marybeth Dingledy told the judge that Meyers had made up his mind to accept responsibility for what he had done. He has no previous criminal history, and state law calls for a prison sentence of between 15 and 20 months. Webber recommended the low end, and that Meyers be responsible for paying restitution when he gets out.
Several family members and friends spoke to the judge on Meyers’ behalf.
Meyers told the judge, "There are no words I can use to describe the sorrow and remorse for making that decision."
McKeeman agreed that the low end of the range was appropriate.
"I get the sense this tragedy was out of character for him," McKeeman said.
The evening started in the Shoreline area, where the four young people set out for a party in the Becker River area. They stopped in Skykomish to buy beer before heading into the woods, court papers say.
By the time they arrived in the woods, it was dark, and Meyers was driving fast enough on the mountain roads to make some of his passengers worry about their safety, Webber said in the court papers.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447
or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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