Plea deal helps convicted drunken driver who caused fatal crash avoid prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A convicted drunken driver who police said slammed his car into another last February, killing two people, learned Thursday morning that he will not serve time in prison.

The plea deal that helped Roy Mewborn avoid time behind bars shocked the victims' families.

(Mewborn in court)

Channel 9 reporter Mark Becker was in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse and said there were a lot of emotions -- ranging from anger to grief and even forgiveness -- as family members of the two people who died in the crash on Interstate 77 gathered on one side of the aisle and relatives of the man who was drunk and killed them that night sat on the other.

[RELATED: Impaired driver charged in crash that killed 2 on I-77, troopers say]

Mewborn was speeding on I-77 near Lasalle Street early on the morning of Feb. 11, 2018, when he came upon a car that was stopped in the middle lane.

Mewborn couldn’t stop in time and smashed into the car, killing 33-year-old Philip Hayes and 32-year-old Jessica Pacatte.

(Hayes and Pacatte)

Troopers learned that Mewborn was legally drunk, and on Thursday he pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter. As part of the plea deal, he will not serve time in prison.

Family members of the victims were not happy but said the bigger message people need to hear is that drunken driving can and does kill.

“You think it’s not going to happen to you,” said Philip Hayes’ mother, Constance Hayes. “You think you’re better than that. You think you can master it. There’s no good outcome. It’s not good.”

Verdell Pacatte lost her daughter in the accident.

“Like I said, I can forgive him, but I'll never forget,” Pacatte said.

She hopes Mewborn will share his story to keep other mothers from feeling her pain.

Mewborn did not say anything in court, but his attorney, Thomas Porter, said that he has not had anything to drink since the crash, and though he’s not going to prison, living with what happened has been its own punishment.

“Yes, he's given up alcohol. He's living in his own prison now,” Porter said.

Cox Media Group