DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040269

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   96 lines

HIT-AND-RUN PENALTY ANGERS FAMILYGRANDMOTHER OF VICTIM SAYS 6 MONTHS ISN'T LONG ENOUGH FOR THE DRIVER TO THINK ABOUT WHAT HE DID.

Gracie L. Coleman grew angry Monday when a judge ordered Thomas D. Price to serve six months in jail for a hit-and-run accident that claimed her granddaughter's life last year.

LaToya Mason, 15, died in August 1996 when Price's Ford pickup slammed into her and he kept driving along Tidewater Drive. LaToya was cradling a friend's infant in her arms when she was hit. The baby, Jasmine Warren, suffered minor injuries.

Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston sentenced Price to seven years, but suspended all but six months, which Price will serve in the Norfolk City Jail.

Coleman said she has spoken with Price and forgiven him, but she feels the sentence was too light.

``I didn't feel good at all,'' she said about the sentence. ``Because I felt like . . . he at least should have gotten some time to think about what he really, really did.''

Price, 24, who pleaded guilty in April to two counts of felony hit-and-run, testified Monday that he drank half of a beer before the incident. Testimony showed he has a history of alcohol-related problems.

``He's going to come right out and kill someone else,'' Coleman said after the ruling.

Now, Coleman said, she's embarking on a crusade to speak out about drinking, drugs and driving, a message she will take to schools and organizations.

``My granddaughter didn't have a life,'' she said.

Coleman sobbed softly as she testified about the impact of LaToya's death on the family.

It was a bitterly ironic role for the 67-year-old grandmother, whose daughter - LaToya's mother - could not be there to testify about the girl's death. Charlotte Mason was shot to death four months after LaToya died.

Mason was killed in her Park Place home on West 26th Street when several bullets were fired into the residence. It is not clear what led to the shooting. Three men were later arrested; two have been convicted of murder, the third is scheduled to go to trial next month.

Coleman was taking the place of Charlotte on the witness stand, she said.

``It's very hard,'' she testified.

Coleman was close to LaToya, who lived with her for 13 years before moving to Park Place to live with her parents and siblings.

LaToya was leaving the Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in the 3000 block of Tidewater Drive at 11:43 p.m. with 10-month-old Jasmine in her arms when Price's 1995 truck hit her. She landed on the pavement, the baby held against her chest. Price did not stop.

When Price pleaded guilty to the hit-and-run charges in April, he apologized to the family.

``He expressed sorrow and remorse for what had happened,'' she said. Then Price told her he had been drinking that night.

Despite her forgiveness, Coleman said, Price still must face the consequences for his actions.

``I want to believe that (he was sorry),'' Coleman said after court. ``But he does have a problem.''

During the hourlong sentencing, prosecutor S. Clark Daugherty argued that Price has a history of alcohol abuse and that he tried to deceive police on the night LaToya was killed.

Testimony showed that Price went to a nightclub early that evening for dinner. He was there about four hours, but testified he drank half a beer. He then went to a 7-Eleven and was traveling north on Tidewater when he hit LaToya.

Price did not talk to police until about 40 minutes later, Daugherty said, because he did not want police to know he had been drinking. Price was not charged with drunken driving.

Daugherty did not recommend a specific sentence, but asked the judge to sentence Price appropriately. Poston sentenced him to five years - the maximum - for LaToya's death and two years for the injuries to Jasmine.

Price, a Navy man who lives in the 1300 block of W. Ocean View Ave., wiped away tears throughout his testimony as his mother and other family members watched. He told how he had denied that he had a drinking problem, but now he wants help.

``I asked the grandmother to please find it in her heart to forgive,'' he said on the stand, his voice wavering.

He did not go to the police right away, he said, because he was confused and scared.

Had he been sent to prison, Price likely would have been discharged from the Navy. With his sentence, Poston recommended that the Navy retain him. Price also will have to enter a substance-abuse program. He starts his jail time on Friday. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Gracie L. Coleman, left, hugs Laverne Warren, mother of the infant

injured in the hit-and-run. Coleman's granddaughter died.

Color photos

Thomas D. Price, left, has expressed regret for the accident that

killed LaToya Mason, 15, in August 1996. KEYWORDS: SENTENCE HIT AND RUN FATALITY

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