Drunken driver who killed 4 women gets nearly 33 years
Judge wants sentence to deter others ‘this very evening’
A man who pleaded guilty to killing four women in a drunken driving crash on Christmas Eve 2011 was sentenced Thursday to 32 years, 11 months and 29 days in prison.
He apologized and expressed remorse during his sentencing hearing.
Davis Brooks, 42, was speeding and had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when he crashed a Chevy Silverado into the back of a Chevy Impala about 6:30 that night on Raleigh-Millington Road on the Loosahatchie Bridge.
The Impala carrying Tarla Fisher, 47; Shirley Watkins, 44; Crystal Hill, 26; and Marjorie Tucker, 42, was pushed into the path of an oncoming Ford F-150.
The women in the Impala were killed. James Reece and Luke McElravey in the pickup survived their injuries.
“I should have never gotten behind the wheel that night,” Brooks said Thursday.
He apologized and said he will never forget what he did.
He said there were no words he could say to change what took place.
Asst. Dist. Atty. Billy Bond said there is no forgiveness for him on behalf of the state.
Before sentencing him, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Beasley said he hopes that for the rest of his life, not a single day passes that he does not think about the impact of his crime. Beasley said Brooks drove a “missile” causing an accident that resulted in the loss of four people’s lives and seriously injured two others.
On the night of the crash, Brooks was combative at the scene. He gave officers a driver’s license with someone else’s name.
He was identified by fingerprints as Davis Brooks of Jackson, Tennessee. At the time, Brooks was also wanted in Tipton, Madison and Dickson counties.
He was given the nearly 33year sentence to avoid depreciating the seriousness of the crime and to provide a deterrent to others who would drive drunk even “this very evening,” Beasley said.