Driver learns sentence for crash that killed elderly couple

LISBON -- A man who caused the deaths of an elderly Salem couple in a 2024 crash after falling asleep at the wheel sobbed as he was led away in handcuffs for a six-month jail term, twice saying "I am so sorry."

Kaylan Latrae Jones, 26, Cleveland, formerly Georgetown Road, Salem, faced his penalty for two counts of misdemeanor vehicular homicide Wednesday in Columbiana County Municipal Court for ending the lives of Richard Albert Hiner, 87, and Joanne Eileen Hiner, 89, a couple whose family was seeking justice for a hurt that will never go away.

"Our lives were forever changed that day," their daughter, Valerie Donlon, said while addressing the court at the sentencing hearing.

She was driving her parents in her 2020 Toyota Sienna northbound on Georgetown Road when Jones' southbound car traveled left of center and hit her vehicle head-on the morning of Sept. 21, 2024.

She still recalled the sights and sounds of her parents dying near her in the crash that also left her seriously injured. She said she's worked about two years trying to put her life back together from her injuries, which included two broken arms, a broken neck, a broken back in three places, among other injuries.

She addressed Jones and said that while he was posting pictures of himself with a beer about a week after the accident, "I was in the hospital unable to attend my parents' double funeral service."

She described the pain she endured in the hospital, in physical therapy, and in a nursing home trying to recover physically, the pain she still feels now. But she told Jones what he did to her wasn't anywhere near what he did to her parents, who suffered multiple broken bones and internal injuries leading to their deaths.

"You took them from this world," she said, saying he probably just saw an old couple, but "they were leading active lives."

"I do pray for you Kaylen," she said.

Her hope is that this will be a wakeup call for him to change. She also said she hopes he will always remember her parents' names.

Judge Tim McNicol followed the recommendation of county assistant Prosecutor Ralph Rivera in sentencing Jones to two consecutive 180-day or six-month jail terms, which is the maximum possible for the vehicular homicide charges. He agreed to suspend 90 days from each term, making the total Jones must serve 180 days or six months in the county jail. He will receive credit for two days served. His license was suspended for four years. He was also fined $500 for each count for a total of $1,000, he must complete 60 hours community service when he's released from jail and must pay restitution of $4,223 for out of pocket medical expenses resulting from the crash. He'll be on probation for three years.

Jones addressed the court and said he finds it hard to live.

"Mr. Richard Hiner and Mrs. Joanne Hiner are gone because of me," Jones said.

He understands what he did and said he wasn't asking for any kind of leniency, even saying he deserved the maximum sentence. He said he finds it hard every day just to be alive.

"I just want it to be known that I"m sorry," Jones said.

He was tired on his way home from work that day and said he should have slept in the parking lot instead of driving. He said he accepted full responsibility.

His friend Justin Morton spoke on his behalf, saying he had been his neighbor across the street.

"There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't feel sorry for what he did," Morton said.

His defense attorney, Zachary Miller, asked for a minimum sentence of 90 days total, saying his client from the very beginning acknowledged what happened and has accepted responsibility. What happened wasn't on purpose, but his negligence had catastrophic consequences.

He said he has expressed his remorse and spared the family having to sit through a trial and will continue to live with the knowledge of the cost.

Rivera noted that Jones had a limited criminal record, but an extensive traffic record of driving without a license.

"I feel you have expressed remorse," McNicol said before passing sentence.

When he first spoke, he offered his most sincere condolences to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Hiner, who were plentiful in the courtroom. He talked about the victims and told Jones "they were husband and wife who had every reasonable expectation of reaching their destination that morning -- they did not."

He said the absence of intent to harm or impairment doesn't lessen the result.

The Hiners' grandchildren, Joshua Donlon and Jessica Lee, who are the children of Valerie Donlon, talked after the hearing about their tremendous loss of two people whose lesson to them was always to "just be there."

"Their number one rule in life was just to show up for people," Joshua said.

They were there for their grandparents and shed tears talking about what they meant to them, giving a glimpse into the kind of people they were, helping anybody and everybody, whether they were out planting flowers or pulling weeds in the park, giving people rides, babysitting Jessica's children the day before the accident, walking at the Salem Community Center every day, being active at church or keeping the cleanest house ever.

"They were the best. The best people ever," Jessica said.

As for the sentence, Joshua summed it up by saying, "You know I think the state of Ohio has a lot to learn when it comes to cases like this, with falling asleep at the wheel. I think it should have been more, should have been more severe. I think we do have justice, though, after two years of waiting."