Drunk driver jailed for four years
Motorist ran red light, striking and killing couple on motorcycle
Emma Grehan is a four-year-old girl missing her grandparents. When she sees two butterflies together, she calls them Grandma and Grandpa. When she hears or sees a motorcycle, she thinks it’s her Grandpa’s bike. Emma’s mom, Lisa, showed the little girl’s picture in court Thursday at the sentencing hearing for the drunk driver who killed Larry and Patricia Best. The deaths have reverberated through the large, tight-knit family, court heard. Family member after family member addressed the court, speaking of loss, anger and never-ending grief.
Gerald Decoste, 54, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison followed by a three-year driving prohibition, and a $400 fine that goes toward programs to help victims of crime. He had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream on Aug. 13, 2017, when he ran a red light at Manning Road and County Road 46 in his van and struck the motorcycle carrying the Bests.
Decoste hung his head throughout the sentencing hearing, crying. When given the opportunity to address the court, he turned to the family packed into the courtroom and apologized.
“I’m not making excuses. I’m sorry. Yes, I was stupid. I was selfish. I’m sorry. I live with this everyday … If I were in your place, I would hate me. I hate me.”
Later, as he was led away to begin serving his sentence, he turned to Lisa Grehan and her brother, Cale. “I’m truly sorry,” Decoste said again, tears still rolling down his cheeks.
Decoste’s lawyer, Bobby Russon, said the Essex man has not touched a drop of alcohol since the crash. He described Decoste as a contributing member of society with no prior criminal record.
Decoste never dodged responsibility, Russon said. “I did it and I’m going to plead guilty,” Decoste told him from their very first meeting, Russon said. “His grief and guilt is entirely sincere.”
Larry’s mother, Betty Best, addressed Decoste directly when given the opportunity to read a statement to the court. “You broke our hearts,” she said.
The family had been briefed before the hearing that the joint recommendation from the defence and prosecution was a four-year sentence.
“I thought our loved ones’ lives were worth more than this,” Larry ’s sister-in-law, Pamela Best, told the court.
Ontario court Justice Lloyd Dean addressed the family on that point. He said sentences in drunk driving cases inevitably leave families wanting.
“I can’t explain it to you in any way that can ease your pain and sorrow,” he began. Sentences are “not meant in any way to comfort you in your suffering and grief. The law is incapable of doing that in these cases.”
Patricia Best threw herself into community service when Windsor Plastics closed leaving her out of work. She volunteered at Hospice and as a crisis worker before that. Larry — described as a man with a smile that could light up a room, with a sense of humour to match — retired from Ford after 34 years. They were both 66, healthy and vibrant in their golden years. Larry was an avid cyclist, racking up more than 40,000 kilometres since retirement pedalling around Michigan and Ontario, once riding his bike all the way to Tobermory and back.
He had given up his motorcycle when he had kids, but took up riding again in retirement. They babysat little Emily two days a week — on Thursdays and Fridays. Patricia — Snookie to friends and family — would plan outings to the county and do crafts with her only granddaughter. Lisa Grehan said she lost her best friends the day her parents died. She said she was relieved the sentencing date was over so she could “get some closure and move on.” Her uncle, Ken, Larry’s brother, said he believed Decoste’s display of remorse was real. “It seems like a short sentence, but he has to live with this for the rest of his life. It’s a life sentence for us and for him, too.”