Drunk driver in fatal accident sentenced to 1 year 7:42 AM

07:42 AM EDT on Friday, April 13, 2007

By ALEX REED / WCNC

A former school bus driver gets the maximum sentence for killing a man -- but it's not as much as you might think.

Vernon Wallace, 25, was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Thursday in court he pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced to the maximum penalty - one year in jail. The judge denied requests for a delayed sentencing and work release, sending the driver to jail immediately.

We caught up with the victim's family afterward.

Carla Smith is the mother of Paul McManus, 29, who was struck by a car and killed last year as he was walking down the Brookshire Freeway.

Thursday for the first time, she addressed that driver, Wallace, and called for the judge to give him the maximum sentence.

“There are no words in the dictionary to describe Paul’s death and what that means to not only us but to everything he would have contributed to this world,” Smith said.

Friends and family members of Wallace argued that he has changed after the incident. Wallace’s attorney Jason Reece says, “I honestly believe that he is very sincere in how this changed his life, he doesn’t drive at all, he doesn’t drink anymore, he hasn’t had one restful night since this happened.”

In court, Smith presented a scrapbook of her son’s life to Wallace in hopes that he will never forget the accident and learn from her son’s death.

The judge sentenced Wallace to the maximum sentence for the charge of DWI, which is one year in jail.

But to Smith, one year in jail won’t make up for a lifetime of missed memories with her son.

“Justice really won’t ever be served in our hearts for the years that we will have to endure without him,” she said.

Wallace was accused of drinking and driving two years ago while he was driving a school bus for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He was subsequently fired. On Thursday the judge said Wallace now has a year to learn his lesson and honor the memory of Paul McManus Jr.

**DUE TO THE OUTDATED CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE LAWS OF NORTH CAROLINA, THE DRIVER COULD NOT BE CHARGED FOR PAUL'S DEATH, JUST A 3RD DWI CHARGE.

THESE LAWS NEED TO BE UPDATED TO SERVE TRUE JUSTICE

Lord,

None of us would choose brokenness, we want to be strong, self reliant and even unbreakable, but Lord, no matter how tall we stand on our own, we are weak and vulnerable in the face of life's tragedies and sorrows- we are scared.                          And so, Lord-   when one of life's calamities leaves us only fragments of what we once knew, we struggle to piece our life back together again, like a giant puzzle. And-you let us, if that is what we insist upon. But you would do greater work in us, you would take all of the broken pieces and infuse them with new life and bind them upon your grace, giving us back strength for our weakness, courage for our fear, joy for our sorrows and forgiveness for our failings, use us for the jars of clay that we are. Touch us- so that we may be healed, making us strong in our broken places, do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. Amen

In daily life its hard to know your spiritual brother Because a lot of people are spiritually undercover But still, it was written.....Be kind to one another !!

The truth, the now obvious reality that I have inside of me- I hide it quietly because this is Satan's society.

Why can't I strip my worldly fears and explode into the person I want to be?

Why don't I share the truth, out loud like I should?!
Why don't people believe there can be something so pure and good?
Because society is oppressed, we're all in Satan's hood!

The World is a whirlpool, go with it, power you will gain.
Why do we get swallowed up in it's lies and pain -

The only way to slow it down is go against the grain

I'm gonna fight back against the grain today

Everyone is going to yell, "you're going the wrong way!"
I don't care what you liars say, its no longer time to play

I'm a soldier now on the side of truth and getting stronger everyday! -

( Paul's words before he passed away)