The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Man gets 11 years for deadly crash
The mother of 6-year-old Alia Bailey said she was satisfied July 11 after the man who killed her daughter in a crash was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Donald J. Buchs, 25, of Vermilion, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, three counts of aggravated vehicular assault, three counts of vehicular assault and a single count each of OVI of alcohol and or drug of abuse and OVI of a controlled substance for the Jan. 22, 2017, crash.
Elyria police said Buchs was driving a 2011 Ford F-350 when he failed to maintain a clear distance ahead and struck the 2015 Ford Explorer, in which Alia was a passenger, and a 1994 International flatbed tow truck stopped at a red light southbound on state Route 57 at Cleveland Street.
The collision pushed the two vehicles into the intersection, causing them to strike three more vehicles.
Buchs was not injured in the crash.
Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Cillo said the F-350 Buchs was driving at the time of the crash weighs over three tons and had 1,500 pounds of diesel fuel in the back of it when he rammed the Explorer going 70 miles per hour.
“He chose to do all that when he had seven and one half times the legal limit for THC in his blood,” Cillo said. “This was active THC in his blood. He was under the influence of the actual THC. This is not a metabolite left in the urine, this is not the burned out metabolite that’s still left in the blood.”
He said the impact destroyed the Explorer, which Alia and her mother, Nancy E. Burnett, were riding in.
“What amounts to a tank or a missile going 70 miles an hour through that car,” he said. “The back was basically moved into the front seat.”
When Burnett addressed the court, she talked about how she was 40 years old and did not think she would have children when she found out she was pregnant with Alia. Her birth gave the family purpose and pushed Burnett and her parents to get healthier and they took part in all her school and intramural activities
She described a child with an infectious laugh who was excited by holidays and who loved to dance in recitals.
“Alia was the type of child who liked everyone and who was genuinely concerned about everyone,” Burnett read from a few pages of typed remarks. “She spoke to everyone she came across. She called her grandparents, aunts and uncles daily to check on them to make sure they were OK.
“She just wanted everyone to be happy,” she said.
Burnett described the excitement Alia felt the day of the crash because she had received a gift certificate to Long John Silver’s because she’d read so many books, and as they sat at the stoplight Alia was playing a game.
“My last words to her were ‘what game are you playing?,’” Burnett told Judge Christopher Rothgery. “She turned to look at me to answer, but this is when we were hit.”
She described her own serious injuries stemming from the crash, and the decision to take Alia off life support. She said she was only able to attend her daughter’s funeral briefly in a hospital stretcher.
“Because of the actions of Donald, I will no longer hear her call me ‘Mommy,’ I will no longer hear her laugh, there is no more baking cookies for sales, no more leprechaun traps or Easter egg coloring, no more school activities,” she said. “All of our future dreams are gone.”
Juan Lopez Bailey, Alia’s father, also addressed the court and, fighting back tears, spoke about his own pain in losing her and asked for a stiff sentence for Buchs.
“Donald gets a second chance, Alia does not because of Donald’s actions to drive high and speed,” he said. “He turned our world upside down.”
In a lengthy statement to the court and directly to Alia’s family in which he repeated himself, Buchs said he was sorry for the crash.
“I just wanted the family to know that this is a nightmare you don’t wake up from and I just want you guys to know that nothing I ever say or do will bring your little baby girl back, and I’m sorry for everyone that was involved in the accident and in this situation,” he said turning to the gallery.
After the sentencing, a suit was filed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Ohio Security Insurance Company, All American Trucking and Excavating, Donald E. Buchs, Donald J. Buchs and All American Demolition Corporation naming all of the victims in the crash as well as their insurance companies as defendants.
The suit said claims against plaintiffs in the suit connected to the crash would exceed the $1 million policy they hold and asks a judge to order the defendants interplead and work out settlements among themselves as well as sign a release.