On the third anniversary of a crash that killed Casey Myers of Holdingford, Minn., and her unborn son, a Stearns County district judge sentenced the semi driver who caused the collision to 10 years of supervised probation — a sentence that Myers' mother said lacks justice.
"It's a disappointment, a letdown," Pattie Gunderson said after reading a statement about her 30-year-old daughter before the judge at the sentencing Friday. "It's a lot to take in today. A lot of hurt, a lot of hurt."
Corey W. Planck, 49, of Star City, Ind., was driving toward Sartell after unloading cargo in St. Joseph on Dec. 17, 2018, when he ran a four-way stop sign and struck Myers' vehicle, killing her and her unborn son Simon.
In July, Judge Nathaniel Welte convicted Planck on one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in the death of an unborn child.
On Friday, Welte sentenced Planck to eight years and 10 month in prison but stayed the sentence, meaning Planck won't face prison time unless he violates his terms of probation.
Planck's attorney, Kenneth Wilson, asked the judge for a lesser sentence, arguing that his client was "particularly amenable to probation" because he had no criminal history and had expressed remorse for the crash. Wilson also cited Planck's cooperation and attitude in court, his support from friends and family, and that he was not a public safety risk.
Gunderson said Planck wrote the family a letter but didn't seem sincere in his remorse. However, she said, she has forgiven him.
"We know he didn't mean to do it — and I said that to him: I know you didn't mean to do it or have the intention to do it, but you get to go live your life," Gunderson said. "I do not get to live my life with my child. She is gone.
