“Finally, justice has been served.”
Those words came after the sentencing of two people charged in a 2013 fatal wreck that claimed the life of 13-year-old Nicholas Robinson and forever changed that of then-11-year-old Anasia Brazile.
The crash occurred on Travis Road when, the pick up, driven by the then-33-year-old Earl Dickerson of East Brewton, left the road, hit a utility pole and overturned.
Dickerson’s girlfriend, Angela Robinson, was a passenger, while her son, Nicholas, Brazile and two other children were riding in the truck bed. Nicholas died from his injuries after being thrown from the vehicle, and Brazile hospitalized with critical injuries. The other two children received minor injuries.
Dickerson and Robinson were charged with reckless murder in the incident, as each were under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the crash.
Both have now pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case.
District Attorney Steve Billy said Dickerson pleaded to manslaughter and first-degree assault. He was sentenced to 20 years on each count, with time to run concurrently.
Robinson pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and first-degree assault. She received a 20-year split sentence and will serve five years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation, Billy said.
This year has been a hard one, said Sara Johnson, Nicholas’ aunt.
“This whole time, all we said was that we wanted to see justice,” Johnson said. “We finally got it. Justice has been served.
“Never have we been out for revenge,” she said. “We forgive everyone who was involved. Speed, drugs, alcohol and poor decisions are what caused the accident. And we want people to know that their actions have consequences.
“If you get behind the wheel drunk and high, bad things happen,” she said. “If we can keep one person from getting hurt, then that’s the message we hope they take to heart. People put their kids in the back of the truck and don’t think anything about it.
“I hope they read this and know that bad things can happen – especially when you add drugs and alcohol into it,” she said.