DUI death rekindles painful memories
3:47 p.m. Friday, October 10, 2008
Wichita — He would be 27 years old, perhaps with kids of his own, but instead Scott Stewart is forever remembered as a 3-month-old baby killed by a drunk driver.
"In our case, this young lady drove clear across the state of Kansas at the time that she hit our car and killed our son," Scott's mom, Wanda Stewart, said.
Stewart, of El Dorado, was parked along the highway breastfeading Scott when an drunk, 18-year-old woman rear-ended them at 68 mph.
She says last week when she heard about Claudia and Gisele Mijares being hit and killed outside Gardiner Elementary, she got very emotional.
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"I could relate it to things that had happened with us, and you know, you stop yourself because you realize the pain is too deep," she said.
Stewart says laws need to be tougher, judges need to be exposed for giving light sentences and those close to drunk drivers must step in and try to stop them.
She volunteers for the DUI Victim Center of Kansas, which wants tougher legislation that includes permanent loss of driver's license upon a third DUI.
Gary Hammitt, who police say hit and killed the Mijareses, had four priors, and state law allows five before that happens.
Claudia and Gisele Mijares
Other recommendations include the creation of separate DUI jails and prisons and forfeiture of vehicles for repeat offenders.
"Maybe the first time is not hard enough, and that's why we have repeat," DUI Victim Center President Mary Ann Khoury said.
Stewart acknowledges DUI fatalities have declined in Kansas since her son's death, but says last week's tragedy shows there is still something very wrong with the system.
Lawmakers at the meeting say Kansas drunk driving laws have gotten tougher over the past five years, but say there's still more work to do.
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