The driver who caused a catastrophic crash on Thanksgiving Day in 2016 that killed a family of three in North Versailles was sentenced Wednesday to 70 to 140 years in prison.
Demetrius Coleman — who was born addicted to crack cocaine to a mother who was incarcerated — expressed his regrets to the family of victims David Lee Bianco, Kaylie Meininger and their daughter, Annika, 2.
“I would like to apologize to the family. I understand it doesn’t mean much, but I never intended to hurt their relatives. I am sorry,” Coleman said.
Judge David Cashman sentences Demetrius Coleman to 70 to 140 years in prison for Thanksgiving Day crash in North Versailles that killed three people including young girl.
— AlleghenyCountyDA (@AlleghenyCoDA) June 5, 2019
During trial in March, prosecutors portrayed Coleman as someone who knowingly disregarded the risk he’d created by driving nearly 90 mph down Route 30 as he fled a traffic stop.
“The defendant knew what he was doing was dangerous, and he didn’t care,” Assistant District Attorney Doug Maloney said at the time. “That’s malice, ladies and gentlemen. The defendant didn’t give a damn about anything else on that roadway.”
On Wednesday Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman echoed those sentiments.
“It is abundantly clear to me that your life from the moment you were born to now has been controlled by drugs,” Judge Cashman told Coleman, 25. “You thought ‘I could go out on a highway and do whatever I want with impunity.’”
“The only thing you did was cause devastation to one family after another.”
Coleman was found guilty of three counts of third-degree murder along with multiple other counts in connection with the Nov. 24, 2016, crash at the intersection of routes 30 and 48.
Killed instantly when their vehicle was T-boned were Mr. Bianco, 29, his fiancee, Ms. Meininger, 21, and Annika, all of Pitcairn. They were headed to Thanksgiving dinner. Coleman was fleeing from the law.
The police pursuit began in East McKeesport when an officer tried to pull over Coleman, who had an outstanding drug warrant, for an illegal turn.
Testimony showed that police chased Coleman through 18 intersections. Witnesses said Coleman had been smoking marijuana before getting in his car. Once behind the wheel, according to testimony, he blew through red lights, drove on the wrong side of the road five or six times and failed to stop as he saw traffic backed up at the red light at the final intersection.
Police said Coleman was driving at times at more than 100 mph and that his average speed was 78.73 mph along a stretch of Route 30 with a 40-mph speed limit.
Coleman’s attorney, T. Brent McCune, told the court his client was remorseful.
“The case is a tragedy, and he recognizes that. He did not intend to kill anyone. His conduct was highly, highly reckless.”
But, the attorney continued, his client also lived a terrible childhood — born addicted to drugs in a state prison and never having known his father.
Mr. McCune asked for a sentence in the standard range.
But Deputy District Attorney Stephie Ramaley asked Judge Cashman to sentence Coleman to mandatory life in prison, citing Pennsylvania law governing sentences for a defendant with multiple convictions for third-degree murder.
Mr. McCune argued that the statute was unconstitutional and is meant for defendants who are repeat offenders, not for a person who kills multiple people in the same act.
For the mandatory life penalty to apply, he said, the jury would have had to make such a finding in rendering its verdict, but it did not.
“The defendant had no conscious knowledge he would kill three people,” Mr. McCune said. “There’s no finding he knew three people were in the car.”
Ms. Ramaley countered by arguing that the circumstances triggering a mandatory life penalty can involve a single incident.
“It’s whether or not he’s been sentenced on the second and third murder,” she said.
She asked Judge Cashman to sentence Coleman to 20 to 40 years in prison for the first murder count, followed by life at the second and third counts.
Judge Cashman instead stacked the penalties at the maximum 20 to 40 years to run consecutively for each victim and added additional time for Coleman’s conviction on several other less serious charges.
No one attended the sentencing on Coleman’s behalf. Several family members and friends of the victims attended, and Ms. Meininger’s best friend and Mr. Bianco’s cousin both read victim-impact statements to the court.
Taylor Price had been best friends with Ms. Meininger for 15 years and considered her to be her sister. The two video chatted earlier on the day of the crash, and she said Kaylie was making pumpkin pie and looking forward to eating turkey that afternoon.
When Ms. Price learned later that night that their entire family was killed, she said her universe shattered.
“I died that day, too, but I didn’t get to go to heaven,” she said. “You have to live every day and know they’re never coming back. That’s the worst part.”
Joanna Moore, Mr. Bianco’s cousin, said he was her best friend. She lived with him and his family and said they were the best couple she’s ever known, and she strives to someday have a relationship like theirs.
The crash led District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to set new minimum standards for police pursuits. The guidelines suggest that officers pursue suspects only for serious felonies, with a handful of exceptions.
Mr. Zappala determined that the crimes for which Coleman was being sought did not warrant a police pursuit.
Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter @PaulaReedWard.
First Published: June 5, 2019, 3:26 p.m.
Updated: June 5, 2019, 9:04 p.m.
