5-Time Drunk Driver Who Killed Young Mom Pleads For License Back
UPDATE 1/16/19: The hearing for William Foley Jr. has been cancelled.
BOSTON (CBS) - Christine Griffiths, a young mom, was just 27 years old when she was killed by a drunk driver. That driver is now asking a state board to let him get back behind the wheel.
Police say on the evening of June 24, 2001, William Foley Jr.'s blood alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit when he slammed into Christine and a friend who were stopped in the breakdown lane on 128 in Randolph.
Christine's mom, Barbara Roche, told WBZ, "You killed my daughter, you had prior convictions." Foley, she said, "Doesn't deserve his license. It's a privilege not a right."
Foley pleaded guilty to negligent motor vehicle homicide, was sentenced to four years in prison, ten years' probation and a lifetime suspension of his driver's license. According to Roche, that's not punishment enough.
Foley has five drunk driving convictions on his record, and this will be the second time he has asked for his license back. In 2009, a state panel denied his request to reinstate his license despite Foley's tearful apology to Christine's family. Foley told the panel, "With all my heart and soul I beg forgiveness. I was completely responsible and take all the blame. I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart."
But, Christine's Mom wasn't moved by his plea. She was at the hearing then and she says her family will be there again on January 17th to confront Foley. "We've been to hell and back. He doesn't get the anguish he puts us through to go to these hearings, and relive all the open wounds over again. He's already killed someone why would they consider giving it back to him," she said.
Christine's daughter Michaela was just two when her Mom was killed. Raised by her grandparents, she's now a high school senior. Her family says she looks a lot like Christine. Michaela told WBZ, "I think about her all the time. He needs to know when you look at me you better see the person you killed and you better feel bad about what you did."
For Christine's Dad, Joe Roche, there's not a day that goes by that he doesn't think of his daughter. "I miss her. We all miss her. Michaela misses her. Every day I say I wish she was here," he said.
Foley's hearing is scheduled for Thursday January 17th. He had no comment on this story.