Your Honor, I am speaking today as a mother, a mother who has lost her only two sons, Joshua and Tyler Deville to a drunk driver. I am also speaking on behalf of my husband, Otho Lee Deville Jr., and daughter Sarah Renee Deville. I am not going to give the details of how they were killed or of the events that occurred on that day. I will however, as calmly as I can tell you and Christopher Pierce how this has affected our life and our feelings on the sentence he should receive. Our sons were robbed from us by a senseless act of violence that could have been avoided. This was no accident or mistake. An accident is when something happens that is unpreventable and a mistake is something that happens once and is not repeated because we should have learned from it. This act of violence was preventable. Christopher Pierce knew what he was doing on that day. He chose to drive after consuming alcohol and other substances. He knew he had no licenses and drove the vehicle anyway. No one forced or persuaded him to do this. He made the choice to drive drunk on his own free will. Our sons, Joshua and Tyler, had no choice. Christopher Pierce made the choice for them. That choice was to die! They were not given the opportunity to say I want to live. A drunken Christopher Pierce made that choice for them. We can no longer feel their little arms around our neck or their kisses on our cheek. We can no longer hear their laughter or see the smiles and twinkle in their eyes. We can’t hear the little words that are so dear to us, which are I love you Mom and Dad. Because of Pierce, we will not have the opportunity to see them grow up into young men, graduate from school, marry or have a family of their own. The life that we and they loved and enjoyed so much is gone forever. Our family will never again be complete. As we gather for meals there are two empty seats. When we gather for family prayers there are two empty spots. Everywhere we look and anything we do we are reminded that our sons, Joshua and Tyler, are no longer alive and with us. A very big part of our souls died that night in the ditch along with Joshua and Tyler. A part that will never heal and will never be filled by anything or anyone. You, Christopher Pierce, can still hear your children’s voices, see their smiles, hear their laughter, and feel their arms around your neck. You will know when they graduate or marry. You will know what they become in life. We will never hear or see our sons again here on earth or know what contribution they may have given to society because you stole that from us and killed them! You shattered dreams and hearts on May 3, 1997. You can mark a date on a calendar when you can go home. We can not do this. Joshua and Tyler will never come home again. There is only one person in this courtroom responsible for all of the pain and grief felt here today. That person is you, Christopher Pierce. You alone are responsible for our pain and the pain of your family. You bare the sole responsibility of it by yourself. You may feel or others may feel what I am saying is unfair and hurtful but it is nothing compared to what we are feeling. The bottom line is your responsible for it all. Sarah and I have been in counseling since the death of Joshua and Tyler. I have been on medication for depression for months and will continue to be for an unnone period of time. I do not know how long we will have to attend counseling but will continue as long as we need to. Your honor, we do not feel sorry or pity for Christopher Pierce. He chose to do this to himself. We do feel that he needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. He deserves to be behind bars for the rest of his life. Our son’s chance of living is gone and so should his freedom. They can not come back and he should not be aloud to be free. No one else should have to go through the pain and heartache that we have been through for the past 19 months. Looking at his past record, he would surely do it again if he were given the opportunity to be out among law-abiding citizens. I sincerely hope, your Honor, that you take into consideration what I have just said when you render Christopher Pierce his sentence for the death of our two sons and brother, Joshua and Tyler Deville.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Deville

Given on December 29, 1998