A young Birmingham woman convicted in a Hoover DUI crash that killed a 29-year-old Moody father got a tongue lashing from a Jefferson County judge who gave her a prison sentence far beyond what prosecutors had sought.
Shannon Elizabeth Jones, 21, was initially indicted on a felony charge of reckless manslaughter in the April 2, 2022, death of Khari Jamal Walker.
A jury in April convicted Jones, who was 17 when she killed Walker, on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which is a misdemeanor.
Assistant District Attorneys Amanda Wineman and Dain Stewart asked Circuit Judge Alaric May to sentence Jones to 10 years with two years to serve behind bars, followed by supervised probation with random drug tests.
Jones’ attorney, Louvenia Borom, sought probation with no jail time for her client.
Jones, a minor, was well above the legal alcohol limit and also had marijuana in her system when the wreck happened.
Testimony in Thursday’s sentencing hearing included recorded jail telephone calls in which Jones said she thought the judge would give her probation and that she planned to smoke marijuana as soon as she was released from the Jefferson County Jail.
In her words, she said she would “get some heat,” which is slang for getting stoned.
“I just know when I smoke the first time,” Jones said with a laugh, “I’m going to be so high.”
A visibly angry May surprised everyone Thursday when he sentenced Jones to serve 10 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The judge said he was surprised that the case even went to trial given the evidence against Jones, who had previously turned down a plea agreement that would allow her to serve only one year in prison.
“I was equally confused afterwards that throughout this entire process, Miss Jones never showed a shred of emotion,” May said.
“When you talk about (Walker’s mother) getting on the stand and testifying about the loss of her child, not only did Miss Jones not show a shred of emotion, but she smirked.”
The judge also noted that in her interview with police after Walker’s death “she laughed during the interview about the conduct that killed this man.”
“It was to the point whether I was wondering if there was a medical or emotional issue that prohibited her from showing emotion,” the judge said.
“That’s how much lack of emotion I saw from the moment I first saw her until I took her into custody.
“Once she went into custody, I was then able to see, ‘Oh she knows how to show emotion’ because she broke down and her family broke down,” May said.
“So it wasn’t that she didn’t know how, she chose not to show any emotion for the conduct that she had engaged in.”
“It was,” the judge said, “a total disregard for Mr. Walker’s life, in this court’s opinion.”
The deadly crash happened just before 11 p.m. that Saturday night.
Hoover 911 received a call of a traffic crash involving a passenger car and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 459 southbound.
The car was disabled and stopped in the travel lane as a result of that crash.
Walker was walking across the right lane of travel toward the shoulder of the interstate when he was struck by another vehicle. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. Sunday.
Wineman said Walker had his hazard lights on when he was hit by Jones.
“There were 10 to 15 minutes worth of drivers who saw those hazard lights and did not kill Khari Walker,” the prosecutor said.
“While he was doing everything right in this situation, Miss Jones was doing everything wrong,” Wineman said.
“She had gotten behind the wheel knowing that she had consumed alcohol, knowing that she had consumed marijuana, knowing that she was under the age of 21.”
Jones’ blood alcohol content was about .118.
“While the jury convicted her of criminally negligent homicide, this defendant did admit to reckless manslaughter,” Wineman said.
“She acknowledged she knew the risks before getting behind the wheel. And she admitted to consciously disregarding that risk.”
Wineman said Walker’s mother, Peggy Stephenson, showed Jones mercy and asked for Jones to be given a plea deal.
“That offer was made because she asked for that offer to be made. She wanted accountability and closure,” Wineman said.
“So, we made an offer of 10 years with one year to serve. Jones rejected that offer when her guilt was obvious. Her innocence never existed in this case.”
Wineman also said Jones never showed remorse.
“To this day, that was just any other Saturday,” she said. “The only time she showed any emotion was when the court ordered her to be put in cuffs.”
The prosecutor noted that in Jones’ conversation with the presentencing investigator, she said, “I sincerely regret someone got hurt.”
“Someone did not get hurt. Someone was killed,” Wineman said. “A life that could have been long and full for him and his family was ended.”
Jones, who had been out on bond, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail immediately after her April 23 conviction.
From then until Thursday, Wineman said, Jones had made more than 300 calls from the jail.
Several of those calls were played in court Thursday.
In a call to her boyfriend just three days ago, Jones said she had to write a letter to Walker’s family and to the judge and was tired of it.
“Apparently because I wasn’t showing remorse,” Jones said. “This is so (expletive) stupid, bro.”
“She just doesn’t care,” Wineman said. “She is going to continue to live a reckless life and potentially put people in danger until she dies.”
Borom passionately defended Jones.
“She’s a baby,” the attorney said. “She was 17 years old at the time. She was doing what kids do – they make mistakes.”
“Judge, she’s not going to grow up overnight,” Borom said. “We didn’t grow up overnight. She is learning.”
Borom pointed out that Jones stayed on the scene after she struck Walker.
“She helped him,” Borom said. “She held his head.”
Borom said Jones believes she is innocent, that she tried to help Walker, not harm him. It was, the attorney said, “an accident.”
“She didn’t get on this highway and intentionally kill someone,” the attorney said. “It was a mistake.”
“This was a child doing what kids do,” she said. “We are asking for mercy. She needs guidance, love, mentors. She does not need prison.”
Jones was tearful as she turned to face Walker’s family and read them a letter during which she apologized. She also read her letter to the judge.
Judge May was not swayed.
“When I hear these jail tapes, and I have never said this before, I was totally insulted by the letter to mom as well as the letter to the court because integrity is what we do when the lights are off, and we think nobody’s watching,” he said.
“Those jail tapes told who you are and it tells me what your integrity is,” he said.
“How dare you to choose to be that person on the tapes when you think nobody’s watching but when you think it’s going to benefit you, you get up here and you put on a show with fake emotions and give a fake apology to a mother who has lost a child.”
Jones tried to tell the judge it wasn’t fake and he interrupted her by saying, “I didn’t ask you a question.”
May handed down Jones’ 10-year sentence with these final words: “It’s going to be a long time before she gets heat.”
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