By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES – Recent Berrien County Trial Court sentencings include a prison sentence for a man found to be in possession of methamphetamine and a probation sentence for a teen who caused a March accident that killed an Eau Claire woman.
Kevin Thomas Shuler, 34, of East Main Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to
possession of methamphetamines and fleeing and eluding police and was sentenced to a prison term of 14 months to 10 years on the meth charge and credit for time served, 63 days, on the other. He must pay $266 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred March 28 on South 11th Street in Niles. Police stopped him for a brake light not working and a front seat passenger not wearing a seat belt. Shuler took off and was stopped a short time later. Police found meth after a search of his car.
“There’s no excuse here, he knows what he did was wrong,” defense attorney Jason Engram said. He noted that Shuler is also facing charges in Cass County and asked for boot camp sentence.
“You’re not that old, you can turn your life around if you put your mind to it,” Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata told Shuler. “Meth is crazy addictive, but you can get past it. Right now you’re doing life by the installment plan. You have to get your arms around it.”
Judge LaSata noted that Shuler has three juvenile and over 20 adult criminal convictions. “Everybody would like you to be successful but you’re only one who can really change that,” he said. “Right now, you’re doing life by the installment plan.”
Shuler absconded from a 2016 possession of cocaine probation in Van Buren County in July 2017. His other Berrien County sentences include a prison sentence in 2010 for third offense domestic violence and a 2005 sentence for gross indecency.
Riley Haygood, 17, of Scherr Hills Road in Berrien Springs, pleaded no contest to moving violation causing death and was placed on 12 months probation and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service. He must pay nearly $10,400 in restitution for Johns’ funeral expenses and $865 in fines and costs.
Karen Johns, 65, of Eau Claire was driving a 2012 Toyota Corolla northbound on M-139 on March 19 and waiting to turn left onto Hinchman Road in Oronoko Township when her car was hit by the 2005 Chevy Colorado Haygood was driving. She later died on the way to South Bend Memorial Hospital.
The impact of Haygood’s vehicle rear-ending Johns’ pushed her car into the path of the Blossomland Ford van travelling southbound. According to the police report, several of the seven passengers in the van as well as a passenger in Haygood’s vehicle sustained minor injuries.
Police reported that Haygood’s passenger, Gavin Hubble, reported that he was on his phone and Haygood was changing a radio station at the time of the accident. Hubble told police that Johns had slammed on her brakes and they had run into the back of her car which pushed it into the van in the southbound lane.
“I expect you will carry this with you for the rest of your life,” Judge LaSata told Haygood. “… This is a tragic situation. Mrs. Johns’ children now don’t have their mother. It’s tough.”
LaSata called it “frustrating” that this was the fourth moving violation causing death case he’s handled since being transferred to the Niles court in January. “It’s sort of stunning,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about what I can do to get this to stop.”
“This is an awful learning curve for the defendant,” Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky said. “… People have to give 110 percent of their attention to the road when they’re driving and not text or change a radio station. Their eyes need to be on the road. A life can be taken in a split second. I hope he spreads the word to his classmates.”
Defense attorney Paul Jancha, Jr. noted that Haygood has never been in trouble before. “He’s 17 years old and finishing his junior year,” he said. “He’s into sports and gets good grades. He’s never used drugs. He’s a good kid and never been in trouble.”
Haygood apologized and said the accident is something he thinks about every day. “I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I would like to say I’m sorry and I want to do what I can to make things right.”
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