Richland man sentenced for killing wife while speeding to pass a truck
Investigators believe Melvin D. Williams Jr., 65, was speeding up a hill on Leslie Road trying to get ahead of a merging truck when he lost control of the Saturn he was driving in June 2021. The car spun into the oncoming lane and crashed, killing his wife Victoria Deberry, 61.
He was charged with vehicular homicide seven weeks after the crash and a lengthy hospital stay.
On Tuesday, Williams entered an Alford plea to the charge. The plea means he doesn't admit to the crime, but believed the prosecutors could prove the charge if it went to trial.
Williams faced between a year and three months and a year and eight months in prison..
Both sides agreed to a maximum sentence, and Judge Norma Rodriguez followed the recommendation.
Deberry's family also asked for the judge to impose the maximum sentence, according to statements read into the record.
William's attorney Deric Orr said his client took responsibility for his role, but the other driver remained free.
'Ultimately, while we firmly believe that (the other driver's) actions did contribute to Ms. Deberry's death, the prosecutor maintains the sole ability to charge someone with a crime. We are happy that Mr. Williams was able to put this behind him,' Orr told the Tri-City Herald.
Williams told investigators that he was heading south on Leslie Road from Columbia Park Trail when he first tried to pass a Ford pickup.
The two-lane section of Leslie Road goes uphill before narrowing from two lanes to one. Vehicles in the right lane have the right of way, while drivers in the left were instructed to 'merge right' with painted arrows on the road and signs.
The pickup moved into the left lane in front of his Saturn and Williams moved into the right, he told investigators.
The data recorder in the car showed he was going 76 mph with the gas pedal pushed nearly to the floor when the Saturn struck the right curb, court documents said.
The posted speed limit was 40 mph.
When he lost control, the car slid sideways in front of the truck. It kept skidding across the road and into oncoming traffic. It slammed into an SUV heading north.
Deberry was killed in the crash and Williams was left in the hospital for weeks
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