Driver sentenced to 43 years for deadly accident

Michael Gagnon had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.

TOLEDO (AP) — A man said Friday he doesn’t know if he’ll ever forgive the driver whose pickup truck slammed into his minivan, killing his wife and four children.

Danny Griffin, who survived the crash along with his daughter and stepson, told a judge his life will never be the same. “I know my life isn’t over, but a large part is missing,” he said.

Griffin spoke just before the judge sentenced Michael Gagnon of Adrian, Mich., to 43 years in prison for driving the wrong way on an interstate last year as the Maryland family was returning home from a Christmas trip.

Gagnon had spent the day drinking with family at a bar on Dec. 30 to celebrate the New Year when he went out for fast-food and took a wrong turn onto Interstate 280 in Toledo.

He had a blood-alcohol level that was more than double the legal limit, and he had marijuana in his system, authorities said.

He drove about four miles in the wrong direction and just missed several other cars before his truck hit the minivan filled with the family who had spent Christmas with their relatives in Michigan.

Now Gagnon, 24, won’t be eligible for release until he reaches his mid-60s.

“In my mind and spirit, I will be serving a life sentence for the pain I’ve caused,” Gagnon said Friday, reading from a handwritten statement in court before he learned his fate.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings called him a dangerous person. “When you drink and drive it only takes a second to wipe a family from the earth and that’s what you have done,” she said.

Griffin spoke publicly for the first time since the crash.

He said his 9-year-old daughter, Sydney, still waits for her sister Jordan to come home and carries a teddy bear to remember her family.

Griffin, 36, said he no longer comes home to a house filled with children, laughter and a smiling wife. He said he misses helping the kids with their homework and tucking them into bed at night.

“It is more than any family should have to deal with,” he said in court while wearing his wife’s necklace that held both of their wedding rings.

The family was heading home to Maryland when their minivan was rounding a curve and the truck came directly at them.

Each driver tried to avoid theother, but the crash ripped open one side of the van, hurtling some of the victims into the road and scattering toys, stuffed animals and bits of gift wrap.

Bethany Griffin, 36, of Parkville, Md., and three of her daughters — Vadi Griffin, 2 months; Lacie Burkman, 7; and Haley Burkman, 10 — died in the crash along with Jordan Griffin, 10, the daughter of Danny Griffin.

During the hearing Friday, Gagnon didn’t want their names forgotten, his attorney said.

“These names will haunt him for the rest of his life,” said attorney Rick Sanders.

The loss of the mother and young children still pains the firefighters and investigators who rushed to the accident, said prosecutor Jeffrey Lingo.

“We will never be able to see what they could’ve become,” said Lingo, his face quivering and holding back tears.