DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly three years after a drunk driver killed an 18-year-old who was home from college to celebrate her mother’s birthday, her family got justice Friday.
Kennedy Segars was stopped at a traffic light on Klondike Road in Lithonia on October, 13, 2018, when a car slammed into the back of her vehicle.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The impact caused a chain reaction crash and left Segars with a traumatic head injury. She died two days later.
The driver who caused the crash, Reginald Stubbs, 55, was charged with vehicular homicide, DUI, reckless driving and following too closely.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in court Friday when Stubbs was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in prison, the maximum sentence.
RELATED STORIES:
- College freshman killed by DUI driver was home for mother’s birthday, family says
- Dozens show up to court in support of teen killed by alleged DUI driver
- Loved ones remember high school graduate killed in DUI crash
Stubbs said he was so drunk on the day of the accident that he doesn’t even remember it.
“I’m very sorry for the pain and hurt I caused so many people,” Stubbs said in court.
“I will never be able to hear my daughter’s voice again,” Segars’ mother, Quvada Moreland, told the judge in court. “Because of Reginald Stubbs, my life is forever changed and a hurt that no amount of ‘I’m sorrys’ can fix.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Stubbs said that post-traumatic stress disorder after his military service is part of the reason he has had three DUIs.
“This does not reflect who I am,” Stubbs said. “I would never intentionally hurt nobody, never. No one.”
Segars’ family told Fernandes that they were happy with the verdict, but upset about the excuses Stubbs made for his alcohol issues. Segars’ father, Marvin Segars, is also a veteran who served eight years in the military and was also diagnosed with PTSD. He was so upset at one point that he walked out of the courtroom.
“My wife came out and got me and told me to come back in there and represent Kennedy, so that’s what I did,” Marvin Segars said.
Police at the scene of the crash said Stubbs hit Segars’ car going nearly 50 miles per hour and didn’t appear to attempt to stop.
Stubbs told investigators that he had consumed multiple drinks earlier in the day in combination with pain medications. His blood alcohol level was two times the legal limit.
In an earlier hearing, a detective testified that Stubbs admitted to drinking three beers, three margaritas and a shot of alcohol every time Georgia scored during a game versus Louisiana State University.
Stubbs had received treatment for his alcohol abuse but kept drinking and driving.
Segars was a freshman at Alabama State University with plan to become a lawyer. She graduated from Decatur High School.
©2021 Cox Media Group
