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Erica Techo
Lara Alvis, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge
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Erica Techo
A drunk and distracted driving assembly included a brief skit, during which students played the parts of drunk driver, parents of a child who was killed in a drunk driving accident and judge.
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Erica Techo
A drunk and distracted driving assembly included a brief skit, during which students played the parts of drunk driver, parents of a child who was killed in a drunk driving accident and judge.
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Erica Techo
Guy and Terri Allbrook speak during a drunk and distracted driving presentation. The Allbrook's daughter, Nicole, was killed in a drunk driving accident in 2013.
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Erica Techo
Guy and Terri Allbrook speak during a drunk and distracted driving presentation. The Allbrook's daughter, Nicole, was killed in a drunk driving accident in 2013.
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Erica Techo
Members of the Spain Park, Shelby County Drug Free Coalition and Hoover communities gather at the end of a drunk and distracted driving presentation at Spain Park High School.
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Erica Techo
Mayor Frank Brocato speaks at a distracted/ drunk driving presentation at Spain Park High School on April 18, 2017.
As Spain Park High School juniors and seniors prepare for a fun prom this weekend, community members are working to make sure they’re also preparing for a safe one. During a morning assembly on April 18, Spain Park seniors gathered in their school auditorium for a distracted and drunk driving presentation, hosted by the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition.
“I know this is a big week for you, with the prom, and we want to make sure we have a safe prom,” said Spain Park High School Principal Larry Giangrosso. “I know we talk about this earlier in the year, but it never hurts to say one more time.”
Circuit court judge Lara Alvis led the group of seniors in an onstage skit to walk through the possible effects a drunk driving incident can have.
During the skit, “Sammy Senior” drives a car while under the influence of alcohol and ends up hitting and killing “Freddy Freshman.” Despite a lighthearted skit with costumes and Justin Bieber references, Alvis emphasized that there are very real cases where an individual loses their life when someone else is driving drunk.
“This is the call, and this is the knock that no parent wants to get in the middle of the night,” Alvis said. “Because all parents know a knock at two in the morning, and there’s a policeman at your door, that’s never good news for a parent.”
Two attorneys presented arguments for the prosecution and the defense during the skit, with Sammy Senior and Sandy Sophomore the girl who gave him keys to drive her car being tried for murder.
“The law in Alabama says everybody’s charged with the same crime,” Alvis said. “So she’s charged with this murder just the same.”
Both students were convicted in the skit, and Sammy Senior was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and Sandy Sophomore to 20 years. One student in the audience said it was not fair to take away the potential and futures of both students for one mistake, but Alvis said not intending to kill someone does not mean you will not be charged.
“Nobody ever shows up in my court room and says, ‘I meant to kill somebody.’ That’s what I want you to take away from this,” Alvis said. “It’s the extreme indifference to human life. You don’t need to mean to do it to go to jail for 30 years as an adult.”
Alvis added that she tells the jury “sympathy and emotion cannot be part of your verdict” in these cases.
Also during the presentation, Guy and Terri Allbrook spoke. Their daughter, Nicole Allbrook, was killed in a drunk driving accident in 2013. A former Oak Mountain High School student, she got in the car with a friend because she was unable to find her keys.
“She lost her car keys, so all her friends started looking for her car keys and couldn’t find it. So she had a friend say, ‘Hey, Nicole. I’ll just take you home and we’ll come back tomorrow and find your keys.’ … No big deal,” Guy Allbrook said. “But it was a big deal because that friend was drinking.”
On their way home, in rainy weather, the driver lost control of his car and hit a tree.
“Nicole, she didn’t say anything. Nicole didn’t move. Nicole was dead,” Guy Allbrook said. “That quick.”
The driver got out of the car, but was convicted with vehicular murder, Guy Allbrook said. Many students hear these stories, he added, and think it’s a story “that always happens to someone else until it happens to you.” He encouraged all of the students to make a plan for prom, or any night when drinking might be involved. It could be designating a driver, having someone outside of the situation to call, or even calling their parents.
“I would have loved for Nicole, if she had called me,” he said. “They [your parents] may scold you, but they will get over it. But if you don’t make it home, we’re here to tell you with broken hearts, they’ll never get over it.”
Sharing Nicole’s story with other students, Terri Allbrook said, is about bringing awareness to them and hopefully saving a life.
“We felt like maybe with something we said, Nicole made a difference,” she said.
Guy Allbrook also said he hopes everyone goes to prom and has a good time, but to make sure they are safe and able to tell their own story.
“Don’t let your parents stand on stage and tell your story," he said.
