JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Governor Mike Parson on Friday shortened the prison sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid for a drunk driving crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl.
Parson’s commutation commuted the remainder of Reid’s three-year sentence to home confinement, with various conditions. Reid had been sentenced in November 2022 after pleading guilty to drink-driving causing serious bodily harm. He is the son of Chiefs coach Andy Reid.
Parson is a longtime Chiefs season ticket holder and celebrated with the team at the recent Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City. A spokesman for Parson said the governor considered several factors in making his commutation decision.
“Reid had completed his alcohol abuse treatment program and has served more prison time than most people convicted of similar crimes,” Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett said.
Reid’s home confinement will last until Oct. 31, 2025, with requirements for weekly meetings with a probation officer and peer support sponsor and attendance at behavioral health counseling. He must also work at least 30 hours a week and perform community service 10 hours a month.
The Chiefs declined to comment on Parson’s waiver of Reid.
Prosecutors said Reid was drunk and driving about 85 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone when his Dodge truck struck the cars on an on-ramp to Interstate 435 near Arrowhead Stadium on Feb. 4, 2021.
A girl in one of the cars, Ariel Young, suffered a traumatic brain injury. A total of six people, including Reid, were injured. One of the vehicles he hit had stalled due to a dead battery, and the second belonged to Ariel’s mother, who had arrived to help.
Reid had a blood alcohol level of 0.113% two hours after the crash, police said. The legal limit is 0.08%.
The Chiefs reached a confidential agreement with Ariel’s family to pay for her ongoing medical treatment and other expenses.
An attorney representing Ariel’s family did not immediately respond to messages Friday.
Reid’s sentencing stay was one of three commutations and 36 clemency requests announced Friday by Parson, who also denied 63 clemency requests.
Parson, a former sheriff, has granted clemency to more than 760 people since 2020 — more than any Missouri governor since the 1940s. Parson has been working to clear the backlog of nearly 3,700 clemency requests he inherited when he took over as governor in 2018, but he has also been considering some new requests.
Many of those pardoned by Parson were convicted decades ago of drug crimes, theft or burglary and have long since completed their prison sentences.
But two notable exceptions were Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The St. Louis couple who gained national attention for waving guns at protesters against racial injustice were pardoned by Parson on July 30, 2021, just six weeks after Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty had pleaded guilty to intimidation.
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Associated Press writers Dave Skretta in Kansas City, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.