Rutland Herald
After leaving the Pickle Barrel club in Killington at 1:20 a.m., Dec. 8, 2013, Debellis got behind the wheel of his girlfriend's mother's Volkswagon Jetta and turned north onto Killington Road.
Although Debellis said he never saw him, he struck Kyle Wilson of New Hampshire, who had also been at the Pickle Barrel and was walking along the road to meet friends at their hotel, Vermont State Police said.
Wilson rolled down the embankment, where friends found him dead the next morning.
In a split sentence, Debellis, 29, will serve 18 months in prison and the remainder of his sentence on probation, Judge Cortland Corsones said Thursday evening. His sentence began immediately as deputy sheriffs took Debellis' belt and personal belongings and escorted him from the court room just before 6 p.m.
Corsones detailed at length the many factors he considered in making this decision, including the statements from Wilson's family and Debellis.
“It is important to me to hear from all and it affects the sentencing here today,” Corsones said, referring to statements by Wilson's family and Debellis. “Mr. Debellis was involved in an accident with Kyle Wilson and did not stop to investigate and did not report it till 12 hours later ... Mr. Debellis abandoned Kyle Wilson on the side of the road.”
Debellis, who lived in Killington at the time of the crash, pleaded innocent in Rutland criminal court on Dec. 9, 2013, and after posting his $25,000 bail and obtaining the court's permission to leave the state, he moved to his parent's home in Long Island, N.Y.
On Oct. 21, 2015, Debellis pleaded guilty to the charge.
In court Thursday, the prosecution called several witnesses, including two men — Nathan Skerritt of Kingston, Mass., and Jeffrey Sevigny of San Diego — who were staying at Debellis' home in Killington on the weekend of the crash.
Both men testified in the morning portion of the hearing that Debellis was drinking heavily the evening before the crash, that he left to buy drugs and returned to snort the party drug “Molly,” a pure form of Ecstasy.
The men also testified that later that night at the Pickle Barrel, Debellis was very intoxicated and they offered to drive him home, but he refused.
In the afternoon, David Wright and Debellis' girlfriend Emily Tredtin testified that Debellis had not been drinking and that he does not do drugs.
Nonetheless, in his sentencing remarks Corsones said the testimony of Skerritt and Sevigny was credible, despite inconsistencies in their stories.
“The court finds the core of their testimony to be credible ... that Mr. Debellis was intoxicated and that he ingested Molly,” the judge said.
Corsones did say, however, that the sentencing could only relate to the charge of leaving the scene of the fatal crash.
“He is not charged with causing his death, he is charged with leaving the scene with a fatality,” he said. “The court can only sentence for the crime (for which) he is convicted.”
Police said, “The energy of the collision forced Wilson onto the car hood and passenger side windshield directly in front of Emily (Tredtin).”
When Tredtin testified Thursday, she said that when she saw the crash, she screamed and covered her eyes. She said Debellis thought they hit an animal, and he slowed but didn't see anything. Tredtin said that when they got to their Killington home, she told Debellis they may have hit a person.
“It was either a butt or a bear,” she said.
But they did not return to the crash or call for help.
According to testimony from several witnesses, the Volkswagen was severely damaged.
“The windshield was caved in,” said Skerritt.
Debellis' father, Frank Debellis, testified that later that morning Debellis called him, worried about where to get the windshield fixed on a Sunday.
“He said an animal hit the windshield,” he said.
“Nothing he said to you indicated he hit a person?” Assistant Attorney General Ultan Doyle asked.
“No,” Frank Debellis said.
Wilson's fiancée, Desiree Bourassa, shared the impact of his loss.
“I was supposed to be Kyle's wife and mother of his children ... The ripple effect of this loss, because of Michael Debellis' choices, will haunt us forever,” she told the court.
“Michael Debellis didn't just take Kyle's life, he ripped my entire future from me,” Bourassa said. “He took my future husband, my future children. He took away grandchildren that Kyle's parents will never get to hold.”
And Wilson's mother, Stacey McIntyre, said the family will grieve forever, because they will love him forever.
“Your honor, I respectfully request that you now hold Michael Debellis accountable for his actions and impose the maximum penalty as prescribed by the laws of Vermont,” McIntyre said.
Before his sentence, Debellis turned to Wilson's family, his face reddened, his eyes welled with tears, and apologized.
“I never meant to hurt him,” he said. “You have been on my mind for over two years. Never an hour or a day goes by that I don't think of this ... Every night I light a candle and pray that someday you may find it to forgive me.”
Defense attorney Mark Furlan asked that Debellis be given probation.
In a presentencing report by the Vermont Department of Corrections, Debellis was found to be at a low risk of re-offending, but because of the nature or his crime the department could not support a probation-only sentence.
And Doyle asked the court to sentence Debellis to serve two to 10 years.
“I find he is remorseful and this will undoubtedly affect the rest of his life,” Corsones said. “ He is at a low risk to re-offend ... this behavior cannot be tolerated. If you are involved in accident you must act in the greater good.”
On her way out of court, Wilson's mother said the sentence did not matter: “It will not bring back my son.”
No comments:
Post a Comment