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“Right now, the law allows a person to get a stiffer penalty if
they kill a second person, but not one if they kill one and
injure another,” McClure told The Center Square. “This law would
right that law. As it is, the law does not give that second
victim, or the injured individual, justice and this law is to
right that wrong.”
It’s a battle McClure has been fighting for some time now,
having filed Senate Bill 1405 to that end several times over the
past few years. The so-called “Lindsey’s Law” legislation would
pave the way for law enforcement to charge intoxicated drivers
with a Class 2 felony if they kill someone and cause great
bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement of others.
McClure said his motivation for so tirelessly pushing the bill
comes from his commitment to honoring the life of Lindsey Sharp,
a 26-year-old woman hit by a drunk driver in a Springfield
Walmart parking lot in 2015.
“She was killed and her son was injured by a person driving
while intoxicated,” he said. "We have many people being impacted
by drunk drivers, not just in this state but across the nation.
We have to send the message that this is unacceptable and that
if you hit and hurt somebody as a drunk driver, you will pay for
it."
In the Sharp case, Antoine Willis was sentenced to 14 years in
prison after pleading guilty to aggravated DUI. With Lindsey’s
boyfriend also being injured in the crash, McClure said his bill
would require an additional four to 20 years in prison for
anyone breaking the law.
While the bill has always stalled in years past, McClure said he
remains optimistic it will cross the finish line.
“All I can be is optimistic, even though I know Democrats are
very much against any kind of penalty enhancements,” he said.
"I'm optimistic because this is the right thing to do."
McClure said he still speaks with the Sharp family, especially
when the time to refile the bill rolls around.
“It’s important to them and they want to see a horrible
situation made as right as it can be,” he said. “I continue to
file for them.”
SB 1405 now sits in the Senate Special Committee on Criminal Law
and Public Safety.
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