Those who drive drunk and cause an incident that claims the life of a parent or guardian could be required to pay child support to the surviving children under one of the final proposals passed by the Missouri General Assembly this year.
“Mason and Bentley’s Law” is named for two sons of Lacey Newton and Cordell Williams, who, along with their four-month-old son, Cordell II, were killed in a crash in April 2021. The driver was later convicted of three counts of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Mason, now 7, and Bentley, 9, are being raised by Cordell’s mother, Cecelia Williams, and her husband. Williams developed the legislation in the boys’ honor and was present in the House chamber when lawmakers voted to send the bill to the governor.
“I am just glad that people in Missouri will … have the opportunity to use Bentley and Mason’s Law because it’s not easy raising kids again,” Williams said. “It is not easy. And we all know financially, things go up every year, so this is going to help them. It’s going to help families.”
The proposal was sponsored in the House by Representative Cecelie Williams (R-Dittmer), who said it was an honor to work on legislation that honors the legacy of the boys’ parents.
“Bentley and Mason’s Law is created so that these tragedies have purpose. There’s purpose to our pain,” Rep. Williams said. “Tragedy can turn into law to protect other people.”
Bentley and Mason attended committee hearings and floor proceedings throughout the legislative process, including the final House vote. Cecelia Williams said the boys understand what the legislation could mean for other families.
“It’s important to teach these guys — Bentley and Mason — and other kids, honestly, that anytime a tragedy happens, you have to find the good, even if you have to create it, and you have to seek it, and you have to fight for it,” she said. “There’s always something good comes out of it and gives them a positive future to think about.”
Rep. Williams noted that versions of the legislation have become law in eight other states and three territories and have been introduced in dozens of other states and countries. In those places it is known as “Bentley’s Law.” Only in Missouri, where the idea originated, will it officially be called “Bentley and Mason’s Law.”
Asked how it felt to see the proposal finally pass in Missouri, Cecelia Williams said the moment was emotional.
“It is so hard to describe,” she said. “This is a feeling that I have waited for, for four years. I honestly have so many mixed emotions because of how the bill came about. That’s hard, but I also know that my family, in death, is making a difference.”
Most of all, however, she said she hopes no family ever has to rely on the law.
“I don’t want anybody to ever have to use it because that means a family died senselessly because of drinking and driving, driving high, or driving under prescription drugs,” Williams said. “It’s all preventable — every single bit of it. No family should have to go through this. It’s a battle every day.”
Under the legislation, if the surviving parent or guardian obtains a judgment in a civil lawsuit against the responsible driver before child maintenance is ordered, no maintenance order will be issued. If a civil judgment is obtained after a maintenance order is in place, the order will be offset by the amount of the judgment. Likewise, any payments received from an insurance provider will offset the maintenance obligation.
The proposal, which Senator Mike Henderson (R-Desloge) carried when he was in the House, passed as Senate Bill 1135, which the House approved by a vote of 127-2 before sending it to Governor Mike Kehoe. The bill now awaits the governor’s decision to sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.