A 30-year-old Westville man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for the 2023 death of a woman in a head-on collision in Holmes County, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
William Allen Meeks pled guilty to Vehicular Homicide on Feb. 18. It was an open plea, meaning Circuit Court Judge Devin Collier would decide the sentence. The only agreement was that it would be a minimum of 6 years and up to the maximum 15 years in prison.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet asked for an upper-end sentence for the death that resulted from the violent Dec. 19, 2023, head-on collision on Coursey Road. The evidence proved the defendant was driving 62 mph in a 35-mph zone then floored the accelerator as he approached a “crest” in the road. He was going 66 mph, his vehicle heading into the opposite lane and his front tires losing grip with the road, when he hit the 27-year-old victim head-on.
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“The decisions that the Defendant made that evening put many people at risk due to his reckless driving,” Overstreet said. “Sadly, the victim ultimately ended up dying due to those very decisions the Defendant made.
“Cases like this should be a reminder that we all share the road and that our choices have very real consequences,” he continued.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, Victim Advocate Nancy Williams read a letter to the court from the victim’s mother. She wrote that when she was told her daughter had died it “felt like everything inside me was ripped out of my chest.” She wrote about the lifetime of pain the victim’s children and husband will endure.
“I pray you use your time in jail to think about and reflect on what you have done,” she wrote. “Think about the pain and suffering you have brought upon my family. I pray we get justice here today and I know one day I will have to forgive you in order to make it to heaven to see my daughter again.
“But today is not that day.”
Meeks was driving west on Coursey Road in a Honda Insight when he hit the victim’s Honda Accord, destroying the front ends of both vehicles. He was arrested after an investigation that included data extracted from his car that showed exactly when and how hard he accelerated.
Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol for their response and work on the investigation.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.