BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont woman accused of hitting a family of three in July 2020 was sentenced to probation, fines and other penalties after pleading guilty in a case that left a family of three injured.
Kenlie Davis was charged with three counts of intoxication assault and three counts of accident involving injury or death according to officials.
Davis was arrested after police say she hit two adults and a child with a vehicle in a west end Beaumont neighborhood in 2020.
She will serve 10 years probation for each of the three cases and will pay a $500 fine for each. As part of the plea deal, Davis must enter and complete a drug intervention program. Davis will be required to use an auto interlock device and perform 300 hours of community service for each case.
The victims and the arresting officer were in court and agreed to the plea.
When officers arrived on the scene on Oak Trace Drive, they found the three victims in the street and an unoccupied vehicle in the grass nearby, according to a news release.
A witness told officers that the driver ran east, away from the scene. Officers later found Davis in the backyard of a nearby home, according to the release.
Judge Raquel West told Davis she was being given this “opportunity” by the “grace” of the family who was hit.
“They have given you an opportunity to prove to yourself, to them, to everyone around that you can do this and this part of your life is over,” West said. “And you are going to live in a way that will be an example to others possibly who have gone through this."
Davis tearfully apologized to the family in court on Monday.
"There will never be enough words to express how sorry I am for the pain that I have caused you, your family and your friends," Davis said in part. "I know my words may mean little considering all that you have been through but there has not been one moment that I have not thought about you. I can't even begin to imagine what the last 14 months have been like for you, but I will never stop praying for you. I am a completely different person than I was 14 months ago."
Victims Scarlett and Wyatt Snider both gave victim impact statements. Scarlett said she cannot remember the accident or the following month due to a traumatic brain injury. She said she had a number of broken bones, cuts, scrapes and road rash. Some of her teeth were also broken.
In Wyatt Snider's impact statement, he told Davis "It's easy to understand why all of our friends, family members, all want you to have more punishment than you're really going to get. The only reason why you have that is because of us, that's the absolute truth."
Snider continued, "We really did it for us so that we could focus on something else, instead of you. Instead of all this focus on you and what's going to happen to you."
"Whatever happens to you, really, is irrelevant to me," Snider said.
If Davis finishes her probation, all cases will be dismissed, and she will have no felony record. If she violates, she could be sentenced to ten years on each case and they could be stacked for a total of 30 years in prison, West said in court.
Davis told the family she will "carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life and I will move forward with you in the back of my mind in every situation."