Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300126
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan had asked for the maximum sentence of 22 years, citing Shelor's long record of driving and alcohol offenses that preceded the May 1 accident that killed Brian W. Andrews.
``Shelor had been provided with every possible assistance that society could offer him to stop using alcohol, and every effort has failed,'' Hagan said. ``An automobile is a deadly weapon in the hands of Travis Shelor when he has been drinking.''
Shelor, 23, had been charged with murder, but Botetourt County Circuit Judge George Honts III threw out that charge last month, ruling that malice - an essential element of a murder charge - cannot be inferred simply because someone was driving drunk.
Following Honts' decision, Shelor pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter, to his third drunken-driving offense and to driving on a revoked license.
According to testimony, Shelor started drinking beer at 9 a.m. the day of the accident. He passed out around noon, woke up several hours later and started drinking again, Hagan said.
Around dark, Andrews, 20, and another friend came to visit. After deciding to go fishing the next day, the trio set out in Shelor's wife's car to pick up their fishing gear.
After several stops for beer, Shelor wound up behind the wheel. ``I haven't driven in two years; I want to drive now,'' he said, according to the third friend in the car.
A short time later, Shelor spotted a state trooper on U.S. 220 in Botetourt County and swerved onto Virginia 606, a narrow, winding country road that he hoped would offer an escape.
One mile down 606, Shelor lost control of the speeding car and ran off the left side of the road, knocking down three cedar trees before overturning. Andrews, who was riding in the front passenger's seat, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tests later determined that Shelor's blood-alcohol level was more than 21/2 times the legal limit.
In 1992, Shelor's driver's license was suspended for three years after he was convicted of driving drunk for the second time. In court Thursday, Hagan read a long list of Shelor's previous charges and his court-ordered treatment for his alcohol problem.
Shelor said in court that he could not remember the events of the night Andrews died, but was ``very sorry'' that it happened.
Honts sentenced Shelor to 14 years for aggravated involuntary manslaughter, 12 months for drunken driving and 30 days for driving on a suspended license. The judge also fined Shelor $2,500 and ordered that his license be revoked for the next 10 years.
Brian Andrews' father, David Andrews, said after the hearing that he was ``very satisfied'' with the outcome of Thursday's hearing. ``Mr. Shelor had every chance in the world to turn himself around,'' David Andrews said.
by CNB