JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman found guilty of DUI manslaughter, resulting in the death of a 12-year old-boy, was sentenced Monday, after pleading for mercy.
“Please don’t punish my children or parents, please let me get back to them as soon as I can,” pleaded Kelley Permenter before Judge Bruce Anderson sentenced her.
As Permenter learned her punishment, she smiled back at her family after she was given the minimum 10 years and 4-month prison sentence for a hit-and-run that killed Hunter Cope.
In March 2017, Permenter was intoxicated when she struck and killed Cope with her SUV at the intersection of Wonderwood Drive and A1A as he was walking home from Mayport Middle School.
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Before Monday's sentencing, the judge heard witness impact statements from Cope's friends, grandparents and from Kristal Clark, Cope's mother.
The attorney read Clark's statement, which said in part, “that tragic morning ripped my heart out of my chest.”
The impact statements painted a picture of a young boy who loved fishing with his grandpa, playing video games with his best friends and making people laugh. They also spoke to the trauma his family and friends still face.
Ashley Snyder, the mother of Cope's best friend read a statement on behalf of her son. It read, "Your honor, what I saw and witnessed that morning is something no child or adult should ever see ... I watched my best friend get hit by a car...”
Another mother of one of Cope's friends read a statement on her son's behalf as well. Her son wrote, “We saw my friend laying in the street and people around him."
Permenter was charged with DUI manslaughter in the second degree, DUI causing damage and leaving the scene of an accident.
Permenter gave a statement apologizing for the grief and heartache she’s caused Hunter’s family.
“I regret everything about that day," she said. "I can’t bring back Hunter, but I’m so sorry.”
Permenter will also face three years probation, suspension of her driver’s license, wear an ankle monitor, attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, complete 200 hours of community service, wear a drug monitor patch, adhere to a curfew and a multitude of other conditions upon her release.