Murderous drunk drivers in Texas will now be forced to pay child support to victims orphaned by their reckless actions under a new law inspired by a grandmother who lost two generations of her family in a horrific fireball crash.
Bentley’s law is designed to detain DUI convicts who commit the “particularly heinous” crime of murdering parents or guardians responsible for paying benefits until the child turns 18 or finishes high school.
The amount charged depends on the “standard of living to which the child is accustomed,” his “physical and emotional state,” and his “educational needs,” according to the legislation.
The legislation was passed in Tennessee in May last year and has now been passed into Texas law after Gov. Greg Abbott signed Bill 393 earlier this year.
Tennessee grandmother Cecilia Williams, who devised the law, lost her son Cordell, 30, daughter-in-law Lacy, 25, and grandson Cordell II, in a Missouri collision caused by drunk driver David Thurby in April 2021.
Grandmother Cecilia Williams of Tennessee, who devised the law, lost her son Cordell, 30, daughter-in-law Lacy, 25, and grandson Cordell II, in a Missouri collision caused by drunk driver David Thurby (pictured) in April 2021
Cecilia Williams (pictured) campaigned for Bentley’s law to make drunk drivers financially responsible if they kill a parent in a car accident. The legislation is now being passed in Texas, having previously been signed into law in Tennessee last year
Her son Cordell, 30, (left), his fiancée Lacey Newton, 25, (right) and their four-month-old son, Cordell II, were killed by a drunk driver
She had to take care of their two sons who survived the crash: Bentley, seven, and Mason, five.
Thurby, of Fenton, Montana, reportedly had double the legal limit when he hit the back of Williams’ car, which went off the road and crashed into a tree before catching fire.
While the law will not personally benefit her and her grandsons, Williams said she has campaigned for its introduction to “help other people.”
The law’s full name is Ethan, Haile, and Bentley’s Law because it is also named after the two children of Nicholas Galinger, a Tennessee police officer who was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver.
The novice cop was killed aged 38 after being hit by drunk driver Janet Elaine Hinds, 54, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in February 2019.
Galinger, who had graduated from the police academy just a month earlier, had stepped out of his patrol vehicle to inspect a manhole cover amid rainy conditions when Hinds’ Honda CRV struck and fatally injured him.
In February 2022, Hinds was sentenced to 11 years behind bars for the hit and run.
Now, with Bill 393, Texas has followed in the footsteps of Tennessee lawmakers.
Cordell II (pictured) was just four months old when he was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver
Bentley, five, and Mason, three, visit the scene of their parents and siblings’ accident
Their parents’ car was pushed off the road by a drunk driver before it crashed into a tree and caught fire
The bill was introduced on November 14 last year and signed into law this year by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
“Anytime a parent dies is tragic, but a death by a drunk driver is especially horrifying,” Abbott said.
“I was proud to be able to sign HB 393 into law this year requiring offenders to pay child support for their victims’ children.”
Figures show that fatalities in drunk driving accidents are disturbingly common in Texas.
About 1,162 people were killed in DUI accidents in the Lone Star State last year — a 2% increase from the previous year, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
That equates to three people dying every day of the year.