GREENFIELD — The 20-year-old Buckland man who caused a crash on Route 2 last October that killed 51-year-old Sarah Sessions of Heath was sentenced to five years in prison plus another five years of probation after pleading guilty in Franklin County Superior Court Thursday morning.
Wyatt Pease, 20, admitted to charges of involuntary manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide while driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident that resulted in death, negligent driving and possession of liquor under the age of 21.
Judge Mary-Lou Rup, accepting the recommendation of Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Michaels of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, sentenced Pease to a total of five years in the Franklin County House of Correction, plus five years probation with the conditions that he does not consume any drugs or alcohol, participates in random screening, does not drive any form of motor vehicle, performs 100 hours of community service per year and attends at least two Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings per week.
The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 when Pease, then 19 and driving back from a golf course where, he told police, he had consumed two Twisted Tea alcoholic drinks, rear-ended Sessions’ car while allegedly speeding west on Route 2.
The impact sent Sessions’ vehicle spinning into the opposite lane, where it was struck by a minivan. She was transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Another woman survived the crash, but remains physically and emotionally injured, Michaels told Rup.
Pease fled the scene, continuing down Route 2 to his mother’s home in Buckland, where he was confronted by police. Michaels said Pease told police his brakes locked up as he tried to stop and avoid hitting Sessions’s car, and that he had not been drinking, but a breath test at that point returned a 0.09 percent blood alcohol level. A 0.08 reading carries a presumption of guilt in Massachusetts.
Members of both Sessions’s and Pease’s families attended the sentencing. Michaels read a series of victim and family statements from Sessions’s mother and daughter, detailing how she loved to farm and garden and spent much of her free time with her 2-year-old granddaughter.
“It’s achingly clear,” Rup told Pease following his plea, “that no sentence could diminish the impact this has had on (Sessions’) family.”
Rup said she opted to send Pease to the county jail instead of state prison because he was young and had no prior criminal record. Thomas Lesser, Pease’s lawyer, advocated for that outcome, noting that Pease recognized he was at fault and had intended to plead guilty from the beginning.
“You made a bad decision and showed bad judgment on that day,” Rup told Pease. “People do that, but we recognize that they can have lifelong consequences. Not just to you, but to your family and friends. I’m sure this has not been easy for them, seeing what the other family’s mother and grandmother and granddaughter are going through.”
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