“My heart sank to my feet,” Hanna Hubbs said. “I didn’t know her, but she was so
beautiful and so young. I can’t believe I was ever ignorant enough to believe that could
never happen.”
Hubbs, a 2013 graduate from OSU, had eight people in the car with her when she
was driving under the influence of alcohol, and the recent death of OSU student Kasey
Waychoff hit home for her.
On March 21, 2014, Justin Lott, 29, hit Waychoff, 19, while driving under the
influence of alcohol while she was walking in a bike lane in Gulf Shores, Ala., early in
the morning.
Waychoff was pronounced dead on March 21 at 2:26 a.m. She was a sophomore
at OSU and a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
NUT GRAPH:
Waychoff’s death affected hundreds of people from OSU, for OSU provided six
buses to charter to her funeral in her hometown, Flower Mound, Texas, and about 800
attended her memorial service in the Student Union at OSU.
Lott continued to drive after he struck Waychoff. Witnesses who saw the accident
occur described Lott’s truck to police officers in hopes he would be found.
Waychoff played intramural sports, was vice president of finance for her sorority
chapter and recently was accepted into an exchange program in China.
McKenzie Labadie, a junior at OSU and member of Gamma Phi Beta, said it still
hasn’t hit her Waychoff is gone.
“She was my favorite person,” Labadie said. “She had a contagious smile and
couldn’t hurt a fly. I hate that this happened to her.
“We all are thinking, ‘Why Kasey? What did she do?’”
Although Waychoff’s accident occurred in Alabama, it touched many lives at
OSU, even those who didn’t know her.
“I hope this man gets to sit in jail for a long time thinking of what he did,” Hubbs
said. “I hope he sees how many people his mistake has affected, and I hope others like
me use this as a lesson.”
Many drivers who drive under the influence might immediately give away signs
of intoxication, such as slurred words and the inability to stand or make eye contact.
According to the Oklahoma State University Police Department, 177 students
have been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol from January 2012 to
February 2014.
Lt. Mark Shearer of the OSU police department said it pulls over at least three
students a week for driving under the influence of alcohol.
“We typically find intoxicated drivers on the streets near University and
Knoblock,” Shearer said. “Those roadways in close proximity to establishments that
provide alcohol are where we pull more people over.”
Hubbs received her first DUI in Stillwater, Okla., during her senior year at 1:55
a.m. on Dec. 16, 2012.
Hubbs was one of the 177 students arrested in the past two years, and she
considers her DUI as an expensive lesson learned.
She was given two choices. She could surrender her license for six months or to
get a “blow and go” device from the DMV with a modified license stating she was
charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Hubbs had to pay $2,500 for DUI, $125 for each drug and alcohol assessment
course and $40 per month to the probation office until she is off probation in August
2014.
Shearer said there is a surprising amount of underage students who get charged
with drunken driving.
“Students come here, and it’s their first time away from their parents, and they’re
wanting to fit in,” Shearer said. “So, there is more potential for them to go to a private
party, consume alcohol and get in a motor vehicle.”
For someone under 21, a person’s blood alcohol content level has to be .02, which
is less than someone who is 21 or older, for a person’s blood alcohol content level has to
be .08 to be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Oklahoma.
Hubbs might have been lucky enough to not cause any injuries to others while
driving under the influence of alcohol, but Lott’s decision to drive that night changed the
lives of many people.
Waychoff was vacationing in Gulf Shores for spring break with her sorority
sisters, for the accident happened 20 feet from the beach house she was staying in.
Kiah Fricker, a sophomore at OSU and member of Gamma Phi Beta, was staying
in the same beach house as Waychoff and called the police after Waychoff was hit.
“I was in bed, and I heard the girls screaming,” Fricker said. “I thought they were
just messing around, but there was something off about their screams.”
As Fricker was on the phone with the Gulf Shores police department, Waychoff’s
sorority sisters performed CPR until the police officers arrived about 20 minutes later, but
she died instantly from impact and was unable to be revived.
“Everyone went crazy,” Fricker said. “She was the best person I had ever met.
Everyone loved her. She had so much ahead of her.”
According to Josh Coleman, Community Resource Officer at Gulf Shores Police
Department, Lott would not take the breath test after he was taken to Gulf Shores Police
Department, but he later admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol.
Coleman said Lott has been charged with manslaughter, DUI and leaving the
scene of an accident causing injury or death.
He was released from Baldwin County Corrections Center on a $140,000 bail on
March 26. He had $100,000 for the charge of manslaughter, $35,000 for the charge of
leaving the scene of an accident and $5,000 for the DUI charge.
Shearer said he has noticed many OSU students who don’t drink to socialize; they
drink to get intoxicated to the point where he or she cannot stand on his or her own.
“You would be amazed at how many individuals can’t recite the alphabet from A
to Z,” Shearer said. “They will leave letters out even though they learned them as a child,
so it shows what level of impairment alcohol can actually put on an individual.”
Shearer said people who are 21 or older shouldn’t be scared to have a drink or
two, but students who know they will be driving need to stop at two or not drink at all.
OSU provides taxi services for $5 per person, who will come pick them up at any
time and take them to their desired location.
“Students can call a taxi or someone they know who is not drinking,” Shearer
said. “For goodness sake, walk. Drunk driving can easily be prevented.
“Our students just need to be more educated about the consequences driving
under the influence brings them and other innocent people like Kasey Waychoff.”
Source Sheet:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
McKenzie Labadie, OSU student, 918-510-0613
Kiah Fricker, OSU student, 970-331-5206
Hanna Hubbs, OSU graduate, 918-630-5161
Mark Shearer, Lt. of OSU police department, 405-744-5191
Josh Coleman, Community Resource Officer at Gulf Shores Police Department,
251-500-0068