Man gets 12 years for crash that killed crossing guard
A Milwaukee man who told police he was speeding because he was late for work was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison for the hit-and-run crash that killed 71-year-old crossing guard Andrew Tyler last year.
Terrence Harris, 35, hit Tyler about 6:30 a.m. Nov. 10 as he walked to his post at Kluge Elementary School in the 7200 block of West Carmen Avenue. Harris fled and was later arrested in California.
At the time of the crash, Harris’ drivers license was revoked due to a drunken driving offense last August.
The crash broke both of Tyler’s legs, which had to be amputated. Tyler died about three weeks after the incident.
Tyler became a crossing guard after he retired from Delphi Automotive in 2009. He was the first civilian department member to be honored with the Purple Star of Valor at his funeral.
Tyler also was involved in the civil rights movement, serving as an NAACP commando protecting marchers for fair housing in Milwaukee. Karin Tyler, his daughter, said it hurts her family and the community for such a good person to die so tragically.
“He lived his whole life fighting for people,” she said. “For this to happen, it’s just so sad.”
Harris was originally arrested on a coach bus headed for Chicago on Nov. 21. Police said they also seized Harris’ phone, which had incriminating text messages they later found.
Authorities released Harris after prosecutors determined there was not enough evidence for him to be charged at that time. But Harris was arrested in California six weeks later on a warrant from Milwaukee police Dec. 21.
In April, Harris pleaded guilty in the hit-and-run death as well as to operating a vehicle on a revoked license.
Security footage from the scene showed Harris’ burgundy 1995 Buick LeSabre hit Tyler at the crosswalk.
Harris, who said he was speeding because he was late for work, did not stop.
The sentencing marked the first time Tyler’s family saw the video.
“It was painful to see,” Karin Tyler said after the trial.
Following the crash, Harris returned home, texted a co-worker that his car was damaged and he wasn’t coming to work. Investigators said they also found panicked text messages to his girlfriend on the day of the crash, as well multiple calls to auto glass repair shops and online searches for car covers.
In court Tuesday, Harris said he wanted to give the Tyler family a sincere apology “from the bottom of my heart.”
“I cannot imagine what you’re all going through,” Harris said through tears as Tyler’s family looked on from the front row. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Judge Jeffrey Wagner ordered that Harris remain under extended supervision for six years after his prison term.
“We entrust the care of our children to crossing guards,” Wagner told Harris. “And you took that away.”
Tyler’s family said they were bracing for their first Father’s Day without him.
“I hope it’s enough time for him to think about his actions and think about what he’s done, and for other people to think about their actions,” Tyler’s granddaughter, Symona Gregory, said of the sentence.
She said the family plans to honor Tyler’s memory by continued activism in Milwaukee.
“It’s very tragic that we have to go through this and deal with this situation, but we’ll continue to fight,” Gregory said. “Not only for our family, but for our city and for our children.”