Mark Cope sentenced to 3-9 years in prison for 2020 wrong-way drunk driving crash that killed Shina McClam
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A drunk driver who crashed and killed a mother in Peekskill in 2020 was sentenced Friday.
In court, Mark Cope had to face the victim's loved ones, who are still grieving the loss of Shina McClam, who was just 32 when she died. CBS2's Leah Mishkin spoke with her friends and family after court.
"Today makes 478 days, 15 months and three weeks that I have not been able to hold, smell, touch, and kiss Shina McClam, my daughter," Shina McClam's mother wrote, the words were read in court by her cousin, Maurice Smith.
"I wake up every morning knowing that I'm not gonna see my baby," McClam's mother Tessie Cherry said.
On December 23rd, 2020, McClam was driving on Route 9 in Peekskill with her 6-year-old daughter and niece.
"They had just gone and got their nails done and was going to get something to eat. And on the way home they met up with Mark," Cherry said.
The Westchester County District Attorney's office says Cope had a blood alcohol content of .21, nearly three times the legal limit, when he drove northbound in the southbound lane and hit McClam's car head on.
"He ruined our lives. He ruined our lives," Cherry said.
Cope was sentenced to three to nine years in state prison. It'll be up to the division of parole to decide how long he serves after he's completed his minimum sentence.
"I hope he serves the max sentence, and on parole hearings we'll be sending in our letters to make sure he stays in there and serves the time he needs to," said Tashi Njoroge, McClam's best friend since elementary school.
Njoroge said the minimum three year sentence is a slap in the face.
"He ripped someone away from us. He completely destroyed our lives. You killed someone, you horribly injured two people, you left someone without a mother," Njoroge said.
McClam's best friends told us her daughter is being raised by a village of people who love her and her mother.
"We were there since the day she was born, so it's not gonna change. She knows we're always gonna be there. We're her aunties, but Shina is not here. We can't replace it. There's nothing like a mother's love," said childhood friend Lauren Tompkins.
Cope apologized to the McClams in court, but the family says those words won't bring their loved one back.
"Was that drink worth it, to get in that car? How precious she was. She was loved, and she helped. She would have even helped him," said Debbie Cherry.
"My heart is broken," Tessie Cherry said.