Kacy Foster, 36, received a 19-month prison sentence at the Lane County Courthouse on April 14 after pleading guilty to fleeing the scene of a fatal car crash on Highway 99 in Eugene in January.
The court also suspended Foster’s driver’s license for five years and ordered him to complete three years of post-prison supervision.
After Lane County Circuit Court Judge Charles M. Zennaché delivered the sentence, Foster’s friends and family members stormed out of the courtroom.
“I am certain your friends, family and daughter are disappointed in what I just did,” Zennaché said. “Nothing I’m going to do today is going to fix this.”
A driver fatally struck a bicyclist on Highway 99.
The victim, 63-year-old Merle Dean Sheffield, was riding his bicycle in front of the Lindholm Social Service Center near Side Street when a car hit him shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Responders later found Sheffield unconscious in the roadway and transported him to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to Eugene Police Department spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin.
Foster turned himself in to Eugene police on Jan. 6.
Court documents filed April 14 by Foster’s attorney, Clayton M. Tullos, state that Sheffield was suicidal at the time of his death and had multiple pending criminal charges in Lane County and the Eugene Municipal Courts, including felony failure to report as a sex offender, criminal trespassing, and harassment.
Foster’s license was suspended at the time of the crash due to a pending driving under the influence charge in Springfield. Tullos said Foster had just left work at Ashley’s Auto Sales and was driving with his vehicle lights on through traffic when Sheffield rode his bicycle directly into the path of Foster’s vehicle. Sheffield wore dark clothing, and his bicycle had no lights or reflectors.
Both Tullos and Lane County prosecutor David Jampelsky agreed that Foster was not at fault for the crash.
Tullos said that if Foster had remained at the scene, they would not have been in the courtroom.
“I was raised better” Foster says in courtroom
“I’m deeply sorry for the loss and impact on everyone’s lives. I was raised better,” Foster said before the court. “I feel horrible for it. I want to be here for my daughter, and I want to teach her the right ways. It’s not who I am.”
In her victim statement, Sheffield’s niece, Staci Clegg, said she came before the court carrying a pain that words can never fully express.
“My uncle was more than just a name on a report, or a statistic on a graph. He was family,” Clegg wrote in the statement, which Jampelsky read aloud in court. “He was someone who brought light, laughter, and strength to our lives. His absence is not something we will ever get over.”
After the proceeding, Foster’s family and friends gathered around him as tears streamed down their faces.
“I’m sorry to everyone,” Foster said. “Thank you for coming.”
A focus on roadway safety
For Claire Roth, program manager for Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation, the case underscores the need for improved infrastructure along Highway 99.
“Our infrastructure should be accountable to keep us safe,” Roth said. “When I’m talking about infrastructure, I’m talking about built environment and the services that are available to people. It tells the story of a lack of resources.”
BEST has worked with the city of Eugene to identify issues and explore solutions for local roadways and intersections where crashes happen most often.
“I feel very deeply for everyone involved here and I think that people and family and friends deserve a community where we can move around safely, but also receive the kind of mental health care we may need,” Roth said.
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