A man accused of driving drunk and critically injuring a Cherokee County woman in February 2013 could spend a decade behind bars under a plea deal he entered Monday.
Jury selection had been set to begin Monday for the trial against William Wilson Heaton Jr., who was accused of driving drunk and striking then-19-year-old Emily Bowman as she walked along an Athens street, and then leaving the scene of the incident. The impact left the woman permanently paralyzed.
Channel 2 Action News reported that Heaton entered a plea deal that would have him serve a 20-year sentence. If approved by the judge in the case, he would serve 10 years behind bars and 10 on probation.
“It’s 22 months late, as far as I’m concerned, what he’s cost the county, the extra manpower that the police had to do with their investigation, just because he chose the coward way out,” Bowman’s father Dale told Channel 2.
Heaton previously had entered not guilty pleas for six charges in connection to the hit-and-run.
The family of Emily Bowman, the news station reported, said she had been suffering some seizures recently and had spent several days in a hospital. They said she will enter a rehab program in a few weeks.
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