Former NBA star Mookie Blaylock gets seven years for vehicular homicide

[October 28, 2014]  By David Beasley
 
 ATLANTA (Reuters) - Former National Basketball Association star Mookie Blaylock was sentenced on Monday to seven years in a Georgia prison followed by eight years of probation for killing a woman in a head-on traffic crash last year, court records show.

Blaylock, known for his defensive prowess during a 13-year NBA career that ended in 2002, knew he should not have been driving due to a seizure disorder when his SUV crossed the center line and collided with a minivan outside Atlanta in May 2013, authorities have said.

Monica Murphy, a mother of five who was a passenger in the other vehicle, died of her injuries hours after the accident, authorities have said. Blaylock was in critical condition after the crash but recovered.

Blaylock, 47, pleaded guilty on Monday to vehicular homicide and serious injury by vehicle, according to Clayton County court records.

At the time of the crash, he faced an arrest warrant for failure to appear in court on drug possession and drunken-driving charges in a nearby county, according to police.

Authorities never cited alcohol as playing a role in the fatal accident.

As a basketball player, Blaylock's ability to shut down opposing players twice earned him a place on the NBA's All-Defensive First Team, and he was an NBA All-Star in 1994.

He played with the Atlanta Hawks from 1992 to 1999 and also spent time with the New Jersey Nets and Golden State Warriors.

Blaylock's attorney, Don Samuel, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

(Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky and Mohammad Zargham)

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