A Maine man who hit and killed three pedestrians, including a 1-year-old girl, after falling asleep behind the wheel has lost his appeal to reduce his license suspension.
Robert Santerre of Chelsea fell asleep while driving on Cony Road in Augusta on May 20, 2021, when he crashed into three people.
The crash killed 1-year-old Vada-Leigh Peaslee; her grandmother, 69-year-old Barbara Maxim-Hendsbee; and 62-year-old Rose Jean. Maxim-Hendsbee and Jean were pushing Peaslee in a stroller as they walked down Cony Road.
Santerre pleaded guilty in August 2022 on three counts of the civil charge of committing a motor vehicle violation resulting in death.
He was sentenced in November 2022 to lose his license for nine years. He was also ordered to pay $5,000 for a memorial at the crash site.
But he appealed that sentence, saying he should have faced only one civil charge instead of three as it was a single crash.
On Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the ruling, saying the law allows separate violations for each death that occurs as a result of a driving violation. This reportedly authorizes courts to impose consecutive license sentences at the trial judge’s discretion.
Santerre did not have any substances in his system at the time of the crash, had no criminal record and a clean driving history.
After learning in 2022 that Santerre would not serve any jail time, the families of the victims called his punishment a slap on the wrist.
“He admitted to being tired before he drove,” Megan Peaslee, whose daughter and mother were killed, said in 2022. “He knew the consequences, as all of us humans do, of what could happen when you fall asleep.”
