A woman who killed a Harris County sergeant while driving drunk has been handed a lengthy prison sentence.
On Thursday, Lavillia Spry, 42, was sentenced to 43 years in prison after being convicted of intoxication manslaughter of a peace officer. She will have to serve at least half of her sentence—or 21 years and six months—before she is eligible for parole.
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The conviction stemmed from events on the early morning of Jan. 24, 2022, when Spry fatally struck Sergeant Ramon Gutierrez while driving under the influence. Gutierrez was killed while working an off-duty traffic control job in northeast Harris County.
After the sentencing, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg dismissed the idea that the collision was an accident, instead saying that Spry made the conscious decision to endanger lives by driving drunk.
“This was not an accident,” Ogg said. “Driving drunk is not an accident, and killing someone while driving drunk is a predictable consequence; therefore, it could have been prevented. Ramon Gutierrez could be alive today and with his family if she had made a different choice.”
The day after Spry’s sentencing, Gutierrez’s family members had the opportunity to give victim impact statements.
“We’re just happy that justice was served, and my father will be remembered for the hero that he was,” Alfred Gutierrez, the fallen sergeant’s oldest son, said in court.
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According to investigators, Gutierrez was directing traffic for a convoy of oversized machinery on East Sam Houston Parkway N. near Tidwell when Spry, intoxicated at the time, drove around his motorcycle and hit him.
Spry fled the scene but was later apprehended by deputies. She was found to be highly intoxicated and performed poorly on field sobriety tests. The incident has deeply affected the law enforcement community, as Gutierrez was a 20-year veteran, well-known and respected in the department, leaving behind a wife, daughter, and two sons.
Harris County Vehicular Crimes Division Chief Sean Teare described Spry’s actions as “selfish” and reckless, stating that multiple vehicles had already heeded Gutierrez’s warnings before Spry, “too intoxicated to care,” struck him.
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