Nearly 50 people came to watch the sentencing of 22-year-old Aaron Vernon Heyer. Many couldn’t hold back their tears when the mother of the man Heyer killed last spring said she couldn’t believe she will never see her son, Brian Reams, again.
“I feel worse for the boys and the young people that Brian knew because they have to change their whole lives,” Debra Reams said. “They made plans with him and now they have to change that.”
Heyer was sentenced to 19 months in prison on Friday for failing to stop his car after he hit and killed University student Brian Reams, 22, in the early morning hours of March 4. Reams was crossing Hilyard Street at 15th Avenue when Heyer, who was driving a dark green Cadillac Seville, crashed into him. Heyer drove off but was pulled over by Springfield police four hours after the crash.
But Heyer, who is from Coos Bay and was in town visiting friends, lied to police about his involvement in Reams’ death. A three-month-long investigation by the Eugene Police Department revealed that Heyer was in fact the driver.
Heyer arrived an hour late to the sentencing and cried while he apologized to Reams’ family and friends. There were more than 35 of Reams’ Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers in attendance, wearing suits and pink and blue ribbons in memory of Reams.
Reams’ mother gave an impact speech to Judge Karsten Rasmussen before the verdict was read. Her speech brought dozens in the courtroom to tears.
Coming next weekThe lives of two men were on a collision course that weekend in March. Read about what happened in the moments leading up to the crash and the details of the subsequent investigation that lasted three months. |
“The word impact doesn’t even begin to say what this man has done to hundreds and hundreds of people,” she said.
“I wish every day that I could take it back,” Heyer told them after Debra Reams finished her speech. “It’s something I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life.”
Several of Reams’ friends have tattoos of symbols that remind them of Brian Reams, and Reams’ family plans to build a memorial basketball gym in their home town of Pocatello, Idaho.
Debra Reams said her son had given Heyer a gift. “He’s given him the chance to change his life.”
Heyer listened with his head down, his shaggy hair covering his eyes.
“This is your chance, this is your gift,” Debra Reams said. “Do you open it? Or do you move on?”
Heyer’s younger brother Raymond and another female friend stood in the back of the courtroom, and as Heyer was taken away in handcuffs, they called out, “We love you Aaron!”
“He’s not a bad guy,” Raymond Heyer said. “Anybody who knows him knows it. He’s a good guy who got caught up in a situation.”
Heyer will face three years of parole and his driver’s license will be revoked for five years following his release.
“I had (Brian) for a long time,” Debra Reams said during her speech. “I still do. I’m sad all the time. I can’t really believe that I’m never going to see him again.”
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