Friends, Family Of Kristal Walsh 'Devastated' By Sentence

BRISTOL, Tenn. – About 20 family members and friends of the late Kristal Walsh said they were devastated Wednesday when they learned the two teenagers found guilty of vehicular homicide in Walsh’s death would not serve time behind bars.

Instead, Juvenile Court Judge Paul Wohlford placed the teenagers on probation, and ordered them to perform 250 hours of community service and pay for any future counseling for Walsh’s now 4-year-old child, Cheyenne.

Wohlford turned down a request earlier this week by the Herald Courier to attend the sentencing. Juvenile court proceedings often are closed.

A grandmother of the girl who drove the truck that killed Walsh said it was a child’s mistake that her 15-year-old granddaughter will pay for the rest of her life.

Walsh’s family and friends were sobbing and clinging to each other as they exited a packed conference room after the sentencing.

“This is a shame to focus on the rehabilitation of the juveniles when my sister is under 6 feet of dirt,” said a weeping Jonathan Walsh, the victim’s brother who traveled from Statesboro, Ga., for the sentencing. “It’s a massive miscarriage of justice.”

When asked what Kristal Walsh would have said about the sentence were she able, the group’s mood took a quick turn.

“You wouldn’t want to know,” her brother said.

Kristal Walsh, 34, was napping on her couch inside her home with a case of the flu March 2 when a truck veered off the road at the intersection of Hazlewood Street and Carolina Avenue. Police found her body under a pile of rubble after a fire started by the crash was extinguished.

The Herald Courier typically does not name juveniles convicted of crimes, but decided Wednesday that the severity of this crime and the juveniles’ ages warrant their identification. The newspaper’s decision was backed by the leading ethics expert at the Poynter Institute for journalists in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The names of the juveniles are listed on a police report provided to the newspaper by the victim’s sister, Wendy Steelman.

Rebecca Tippner, a 15-year-old who was driving the truck that killed Walsh, and passenger Eric Artrip, then 17 and now 18, were adjudicated as delinquents and found guilty in July of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.

Artrip was charged with the same crimes as Tippner, even though police identified her as the driver. Prosecutors said the boy “aided and abetted” the underage driver and that the truck belonged to his family.

Before Wednesday’s sentencing, Walsh’s family members – wearing buttons with a picture of Kristal and her daughter, Cheyenne, on their shirts – wrung their hands and were visibly nervous.

After the decision, they met in the parking lot in preparation for a pilgrimage to the accident site, where a memorial stands in place of the demolished home.

“I thought the sentence would be tougher,” Steelman said. “They won’t be serving any time. It’s unbelievable.”

Barry Staubus, Sullivan County assistant district attorney, said Jonathan Walsh and Wendy Steelman were allowed to read “very emotional” statements to the judge before the sentence was handed down.

“Unfortunately, we cannot appeal the decision,” Staubus said after the sentencing. “In this case, only the juveniles can appeal.”

As a term of their probation, Tippner will be under house arrest until she reaches her 18th birthday; Artrip will remain under house arrest until his 19th birthday. Both juveniles have been under house arrest since being charged in May.

“She [Tippner] can still go to school and to do community service, but she will be under the guardianship of her grandparents until she is 18,” said attorney David Tipton, of Tipton & Jones, the firm that represented the girl. “I think the judge made the decision he felt was proper.”

Tippner’s grandmother, Patricia Tippner, said the juveniles’ families view Walsh’s death as a terrible accident and feel sorry for her family.

“A 15-year-old girl made a couple of bad errors, and she’s going to suffer for it the rest of her life,” Patricia Tipper said.

Neither Artrip’s family members nor his attorney, Lynn Dougherty, of Hudson, Dougherty & Seeley, could be reached for comment Wednesday.

In April city crews repaired a portion of guardrail that runs alongside the lot where Walsh’s home used to sit. Before the repairs, the guardrail did not extend to the stop sign placed near the apex of the intersection – the gap that allowed the truck to slam Walsh’s home.

Traffic counters also have been placed at four points about 40 feet before and after the intersection on the two roads.

ggray@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512