Tag: Mike Henderson

VIDEO: Law mandating maintenance for children whose parents die in DUI crashes conceived in Missouri, has gone global, still proposed here

Laws are being passed or considered in multiple states and other nations which require those who kill parents while driving drunk to pay restitution to surviving children.  Now the woman who is the driving force behind the idea says it’s time for it to be enacted where it began:  Missouri.

Mason and Bentley Williams (Photo courtesy: Cecelia Williams)

      In April 2021, in Jefferson County, a drunk driver caused an accident that killed 24-year-old Lacey Newton, 30-year-old Cordell Williams, and four-month-old Cordell Williams, Jr., of Bonne Terre.  The couple left behind two surviving children, Bentley and Mason, now being cared for by Cordell’s mother, Cecelia Williams.

      Williams soon began crafting what has become known as “Bentley and Mason’s Law,” or more commonly “Bentley’s Law.”  It would require people who are convicted of killing a parent or parents while driving drunk to pay child support for the care of surviving children. 

      In the Missouri House, it is being sponsored for the third year by Representative Mike Henderson (R-Bonne Terre), in House Bill 1958.

      “What we’re saying is, these people … should have responsibility, and we’re trying to use many of the same guidelines for determining that child support as you would for in a divorce situation.”

      Williams on Wednesday told the members of the House Judiciary Committee, “This bill is not only about paying that restitution.  This bill is about people understanding that there are true consequences to one’s actions, and when we add on the extra consequences of that child maintenance, we’re sending a message that you cannot just get in a vehicle and kill people.”

      Henderson said in the wake of crashes of this nature, surviving children are left in many different situations. 

      “Sometimes there’s one parent left, sometimes there’s none.  Sometimes they end up with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, or … they end up as a ward of the state in many instances.”

      Williams said that some who have found themselves in her position, aren’t able to raise the surviving children, and their trauma is multiplied.

Representative Mike Henderson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “I listened to a lady from New York … she said, ‘I don’t know what to do.  I’m going to lose my grandson.’  She suffered so much because her family died and she had to give her grandson to the state because she could not afford him.  She’s on a fixed income … to this day it kills her.  She died all over again.  She died the day that her family was killed, she died that day too, and she’ll die every single day that she wakes up.”

      The committee also heard from the mother of 23-year-old Racheal Grace Neldon, who was one of four people killed in an accident she says was caused by a drunk driver in April of last year.  Jennifer Neldon told the committee while this bill wouldn’t help her family, it could be a deterrent to at least some people who would drive drunk.

      “This bill may be specific towards children when their parents are killed and my story is obviously different, but there are no survivors to charge, no court cases to sit through, but the advocacy and demand for change is still the same.  This is a public health crisis and we as a society need to stand up and do something about it.”

      Of the places that have enacted this policy, Williams said, “The bill passed in Tennessee in 2022.  In 2023 it passed in Kentucky, Maine, and Texas.  We have bills that are called ‘Bentley’s Law’ overseas … I received a call in the middle of the night from a news station in Korea.  On March 17 of 2023, Bentley’s Act was introduced in Korea.  This bill, now, is in Puerto Rico … we also have a bill in Guam.”

      She told the committee she will testify in March before the Parliament of Canada, where such a law is being considered.

      “This bill started here in Missouri, my hometown, my home state, and I would really love to see this bill pass where it started.  It is needed here.  Missouri has a problem and we need to fix it.”

      The Committee’s chairman, Representative David Evans (R-West Plains), told Williams, “Certainly it is a tragedy; soul-piercing sadness, the brief little bit of understanding we have of what you’ve gone through, but on the other hand the uplifting and courage you’ve shown, the dedication to try to use that experience that you’ve gone through to, and literally have, change the laws, change the people of the world.  That’s quite amazing, what you have done.”

      The committee is expected to vote soon on Bentley and Mason’s Law.

See Cecelia Williams’ testimony to the House Judiciary Committee below:

‘Bentley’s Law’ would mandate child maintenance for children whose parents die in DUI crashes

      People who are convicted of killing a parent or parents while driving drunk in Missouri could have to pay child support to surviving children, under a proposal now before a House committee. 

Representative Mike Henderson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      House Bill 1954 is also known as “Bentley’s Law.”  It would require that such convicted persons would have to pay maintenance to surviving children until they turn 18, or if they enroll in college, until they complete a degree or turn 21. 

      The bill specifies that a judge weighing a maintenance order should consider the financial needs of the children; the resources of the children’s caregivers, if any; the standard of living the children would have had; the children’s physical and emotional condition and needs; their physical and legal custody arrangements; and any child care expenses of surviving caregivers.

      Sponsor Mike Henderson (R-Bonne Terre) said the bill is about making sure children in this situation are taken care of.

      “Right now they have civil action they can take.  We all know that, but we also know one out of every seven drivers on the road are uninsured … so if you’re going to take civil action it’s usually with the insurance company … this bill doesn’t take away the civil action … but it gives them a chance to try to apply for child maintenance for the children left behind,” said Henderson.  “We’re not trying to put everybody back in prison … but just trying to get them to take some responsibility for these kids as they move forward.”

      Henderson was presented the idea for Bentley’s Law by Cecelia Williams.  In April of last year her son, his fiancée, and their 4 month-old son were killed in an accident involving an allegedly drunk driver.  She named the proposal after one of their surviving children, whom she is now raising. 

She told the House Committee on Crime Prevention that after the accident she did some research and found what she called a “ton” of repeat offenders.

      “It does not seem to stop.  I see people who will go to prison, they come back out and they’re a repeat offender again and they don’t learn.”

      “I wanted to make sure that these children who don’t have their families were going to have that financial stability for them, so that when they go on in life, even going to further their career that that money was going to be there for them,” said Williams.  “By creating Bentley’s Law I believe that’s what’s going to help the children and it’s going to help people to think twice and not do it again.”

      The committee also heard from Jennifer Wamsganz, Program Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Missouri.

“Bentley’s Law better ensures justice and accountability for convicted impaired drivers.   MADD believes that passing Bentley’s Law will make people think twice before getting behind the wheel impaired.  If a person makes the choice to drive impaired and kills a parent the person will encounter another consequence for their deadly decision. 

      “To the victims of impaired drivers Bentley’s Law allows for another avenue of restitution to help injustice.”

      Committee chairman Lane Roberts (R-Joplin) told Henderson, “Civil remedies not withstanding there are many, many opportunities to escape responsibility by these drivers.  What really intrigues me about your bill is it gives the state a role in ensuring that those responsibilities are met.”

      The bill specifies that if surviving parents or guardians bring a civil suit against the person convicted of drunk driving, no maintenance will be ordered or it will be offset by any civil award that is granted.

      The committee is scheduled to vote next week on that bill.