Motorist gets 4 years in crash that killed boy

Anoka County Judge Alan Pendleton needed a five-minute break before handing down his sentence to Jessica Howe in the death of a 14-month-old boy killed in a car accident. Pendleton had just listened to the boy's parents give emotional statements Tuesday that left some courtroom employees teary-eyed.

Grayson Jett's death was a crime, not an accident, the judge said. Howe was speeding and searching for a dropped cellphone when her car rear-ended a vehicle stopped at a Columbia Heights intersection, setting off a chain-reaction crash. They were acts of gross negligence that didn't happen in a split second, Pendleton said.

When Pendleton gave Howe the maximum four-year sentence, he said anything less would "minimize Grayson's life and the devastating impact on the family." He then wished the Jetts the best in their journey to recover.

"I've given this case a great deal of thought," Pendleton said. "It kept coming back to prison versus probation. I don't like sending anybody to prison. I tried to justify probation, but I found the rationale lacking."

Howe, 29, of Minneapolis, was convicted earlier this year of felony criminal vehicular homicide in a case that was heard by Pendleton instead of a jury. She sobbed uncontrollably as the sentence was delivered, after apologizing several times to the Jetts earlier in the hearing.

Her sentencing came days after an Eden Prairie woman was charged with criminal vehicular operation in a 2010 collision that authorities say occurred as she was texting and that critically injured a motorcyclist.

The crash involving Howe happened about 11 a.m. on March 18, 2010, on southbound Central Avenue at 50th Avenue NE., inflicting fatal head injuries to Grayson. The child was properly strapped into a car seat in a vehicle driven by his father, Paul Jett, which had stopped at the intersection when it was rear-ended by Howe's vehicle. Jett's vehicle was knocked into the car ahead of it, which also had stopped. Paul Jett was not injured.

At Tuesday's hearing, Howe had her first chance to speak to the Jetts because of a no-contact order. She repeatedly told them that words couldn't express her sorrow and that she thinks about Grayson's death every day.

"I can't bring him back. I would do anything to bring him back," she said. "I'll never forget it. I'm so sorry."

Jason Migala, Howe's attorney, said he was sympathetic to the Jetts' pain. He argued Howe should receive probation and went into detail about her past chemical dependency and crime problems, and how she had had her three children taken away. One was recently returned because Howe had been straightening out her life, he said.

"I understand the family wants justice, and that a prison sentence will send a message about distracted driving," said Migala. "But this story will only be in the news for a day or two, and it most likely won't change people's driving behaviors."

Prosecutor Paul Ostrow painted a different picture and why prison time was appropriate. He said that Howe admitted using methamphetamine four days before the accident and that she had failed three previous attempts at drug treatment. She made tragically irresponsible choices when she twice reached for her dropped cellphone and crashed, he said.

"There isn't a day I don't think about ending it all. I want the pain to end and it won't," she said. "But I love my family and friends and I can't abandon my children."

Paul Jett broke down when he described the scene of coming home from the hospital after Grayson's death. "His jumping seat was in the corner of a room," he said. "The silence was unbearable. I still don't understand what happened."

After Pendleton sentenced Howe, she screamed to her parents and other relatives and friends that she hadn't kissed her own son goodbye before she left for Tuesday's hearing. One of her relatives said she wasn't surprised by the judge's sentence. "Her son won't understand," she said.