OKC man gets seven years in DUI, manslaughter case
A repeat DUI offender is headed to prison for killing a beloved mother in a 2015 car crash.
Oklahoma County District Judge Timothy R. Henderson on Thursday imposed a seven-year sentence on Joye Lee Jaye, a 41-year-old Oklahoma City man who told a police officer he took Ambien and consumed several alcoholic drinks before he crashed his car into the back of another vehicle in which Wanda Jones, 75, was a passenger.
The fatal crash occurred in May 2015, near Interstate 240 and Sunnylane Road in Oklahoma City, when Jaye drove a 2010 Buick sedan at a high rate of speed into a 2005 Kia.
Jones died at the scene. An Oklahoma City police officer reported that Jaye smelled like alcohol and had “slurred speech and red, bloodshot, watery eyes.”
After his arrest, Jaye was released from jail.
About two years later, Jaye was arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence in Harrah. Jaye had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.14, above the legal driving limit, a Harrah police officer reported.
On Thursday, Jaye pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor DUI. Henderson sentenced Jaye to six months in prison, to be served after he completes his manslaughter sentence.
Prosecutor McKenzie McMahon told Henderson that Jaye never took responsibility for his actions, but instead “brought others into his destructive path and they were caught in his wake.”
Standing before Henderson in an orange jail jumpsuit, and shackled at his hands and feet, Jaye told Henderson he “wished” he didn’t kill Jones.
“It just happened,” Jaye said. “I apologize.”
According to her obituary, Jones left behind three sons, one daughter, an adopted daughter, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Her daughter, Dana Irby, told Henderson that Jones has missed the birth of more grandchildren.
“It’s hard not having my mother to talk to,” Irby said. “It left a hole.”