Woman, 95, sentenced to home confinement for death of Novi woman

NOVI — A 95-year-old woman has been sentenced to nine months of home confinement for running over a Novi woman with her car, killing her, after a crash last October.

Phyllis Stafford was sentenced on April 8 by Judge Diane D’Agostini of the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Township in front of a full courtroom with support equally divided between the prosecution and the defense.

D’Agostini sentenced Stafford to serve 270 days with credit for one day on a tether confined to her mobile home, 24 months reporting probation, and 75 hours of community service at places that deal with seniors and/or teenagers to talk about distracted driving.

Stafford, of Milford, a long-standing Novi court clerk with no prior criminal, traffic or parking record, pleaded no contest March 11 to a misdemeanor charge of a moving violation causing death.

The charge resulted from an Oct. 3 crash where Stafford rear-ended a Honda being driven by Sarah Thexton, of Novi, which then pushed Thexton’s car into a Ford F-350 pickup truck on Wixom Road near Sam’s Way — just east of Grand River Avenue. Stafford then proceeded to put her car in reverse and then shifted to drive and struck Thexton, who had gotten out of her vehicle to survey the damage. Thexton became entangled under Stafford’s vehicle and was dragged approximately 30 feet before the vehicle stopped.

According to a witness statement, around 10 people rushed to the scene and quickly flipped Stafford’s car over to get Thexton out. An employee from the nearby Taco Bell said in a witness statement that Thexton was initially conscious. The witness reported that Thexton said she thought all her ribs were broken. Thexton then went unconscious and the Taco Bell employee performed CPR until medics arrived. Thexton died from her injuries shortly thereafter at Henry Ford Providence Novi Hospital.

“Sarah was the ultimate victim of Stafford’s reckless and terrible actions, but the impact of what Stafford did that day has torn through every part of our lives,” Thexton’s husband, Chris Thexton, said in his victim impact statement April 8.

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office pushed for the maximum penalty because of the gravity of the offense.

“When somebody is on the road, they owe a responsibility to other individuals who are on the road as well, and in this case the defendant made a series of choices that led to the death of Sarah Thexton,” Assistant Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Qamar Stamos said.

Chris Thexton said he felt that his wife’s killing was murder and that he felt the Prosecutor’s Office was wrong for only pursuing a misdemeanor charge against Stafford.

“Let me be clear, your honor: It’s obvious, it’s evident that one year in jail is completely inadequate,” Chris Thexton said.

“This was not a random accident. It was a completely preventable tragedy, a deliberate series of random actions wholly owned by one person that demand for accountability,” Chris Thexton said.

“I say if Stafford was capable of driving that day, then she is fully capable of facing the consequences of her actions including jail time,” Chris Thexton said.

D’Agostini said Chris Thexton’s statement was true.

“Whether someone’s 95 or 30, a death occurred here and that must be measured, but where her age becomes relevant is contemplating sending a 95-year-old woman to the Oakland County Jail. That is a heavy request.”

D’Agostini said that she reviewed all the letters and victim impact statements prior to sentencing, including 45 letters in support of Stafford, which D’Agostini said all started by recognizing the pain of the Thexton family.

“(Sarah Thexton) was clearly special and treasured. Nothing that I can do today can recognize your loss. I recognize that,” she said. “I will try my best to mete out justice”

D’Agostini said that as part of sentencing, she was required to look at four factors: the seriousness of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history or in this case the lack thereof, the potential for rehabilitation and the protection of the public.

She told Chris Thexton that she hopes that he will be able to have something positive come out of it over time with the changes he is working to bring fourth in elderly driving laws.

“I know that the pain is forever, and I hope in time, Mr. Thexton, with some of the work that you are going to do in addressing some of the changes that you want to see changing with driver’s license (requirements) with the Secretary of State, I think you could do some good there and I think you could talk about Sarah in the process,” D’Agostini said.

“It is inconceivable that the violent, painful and horrific death of Sarah is being met with a mere misdemeanor charge — a legal slap on the wrist that grossly underrepresents the magnitude of what was done by Stafford,” he said. “A misdemeanor is essentially a minor wrongdoing, and there is no way that any reasonable person would conclude that Stafford’s actions in this case amounted to a misdemeanor.”

D’Agostini told Thexton that she is “so sorry” for his loss and that although he disagrees with the charge, she believes the charge was the correct charge under the law and that in these types of cases elements have to be met, and that’s where the charge came from.

Stafford broke down in tears after making her way to the podium with the aid of a walker and her attorney, Spencer Bondy, of Bondy Law PLLC in Milford.

“I am truthfully sorry that this happened,” she said. “Never in my life did I think anything like this would occur. I did not intend to do anything like this. It just was an accident. There’s no way I can bring her back. There’s nothing I can do to ease anybody’s pain, even though I’m heartily sorry for it. I’m truly sorry and … I just hope in some time they will be able to forgive me and they have good memories of their daughter and wife and not sad ones like this. If there’s anything I could do to bring her back I would do so, but I can’t and I really, really am sorry.”

Chris Thexton asked D’Agostini not to let Stafford’s age and court connections sway her from imposing the highest penalty. Stafford has been an employee of the 52-1 District Court in Novi for 50 years.

He said that he was shocked by Stafford’s “lack of remorse” and failure to apologize prior to her sentencing. According to Chris Thexton, Stafford had several opportunities to do so via his attorney. He said in his statement that she had “an apparent lack of humanity” and told the Novi Note that he felt her apology during sentencing was “insincere.”

Bondy told the judge that he is to blame for Stafford not apologizing to the Thexton family prior to the sentencing. He said he had instructed her not to do so because of the legal cases that have resulted. Chris Thexton is suing Stafford in Oakland County Circuit Court.

However, Bondy said that doesn’t mean she isn’t sorry for her actions that day. According to Bondy, Stafford has been “bawling her eyes out” over the incident. He said every time he has seen his client, she has cried over the incident; he said she has not slept since the incident and has not been able to eat appropriately since the incident. He said she is in therapy as well.

“There is not a moment that goes by where Ms. Stafford does not feel the gravity of what she did in this case,” Bondy said.

He said that the incident was not a series of reckless acts but “pedal misapplication” as concluded by the accident reconstruction report.

Prior to the crash, Stafford reportedly had driven for 70 years and had never had a traffic ticket of any kind, been in an accident or had a parking ticket.

“Ultimately what we’re looking at here is punishment. How can the court punish Ms. Stafford for an unintentional act,” Bondy said. “I understand that this case has had a significant impact, but to incarcerate Ms. Stafford at 95 years old for an unintentional act, I don’t think that is meting the ends of justice.”

D’Agostini said she feels that Stafford feels remorse, as it wouldn’t be rational for someone to go through something like this without having nightmares and pain.

“There are no winners in these cases. There’s only pain. I just hope that over time that pain can subside,” Bondy said.