Drunk driver who killed boy scout in NY car accident received maximum sentence

2 years ago, 12 year old Andrew McMorris was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. The driver was identified as Thomas Murphy. At the time of the accident, the young Andrew was walking with a group of scouts along the shoulder of Davide Terry Road in Manorville, Long Island, NY, when Thomas Murphy struck them with his car. Thomas died in the accident and several other boy scouts were injured.

Murphy had been drinking vodka for several hours at his golf club before the fatal car accident

Prior to the accident, Murphy had been boozing on vodka at his golf club. He got behind the wheel despite the advise of several of his friends not to take his car. After the accident he refused to take the breathalyzer test. However a blood test effectuated four hours  later indicated a alcohol level of .13, well above the limit of  .08 allowed  by law.

Thomas Murphy was released on bail and the trial was postponed several times because of the covid-19 crisis and unproven allegations of jury misconduct. Finally on Wednesday, Murphy appeared again in front of the judge, exactly two years after the death of the young boy. In support of the family, more than 100 people showed up at the Suffolk County Supreme Court, many of them wearing red in solidarity with the family of Andrew.

A month before, on sentencing day, the defense claimed that the jurors discussed the case before deliberations and made a request for a new trial. On Wednesday, the judge ruled  that the comments and remarks from the jurors did not prejudice or influence their deliberations and that they were honest. Thomas Murphy received a maximum sentence of 8 ⅓ to 25 years in prison.

The family of the young boys told the media they felt relieved that the trial was over and that they finally could start to grieve.

Read more in the NY Daily News