LULING, La. — Three families say they've reached some level of justice after a drunk driver was sentenced to 85 years for killing their daughters.
The families say there's some level of relief the driver could spend more than eight decades behind bars, but say the sentence won't bring their girls home.
Nov. 20, 2021, Lily Dufrene, Hali Coss and Michaila Bowling were celebrating Lily's 19th birthday.
Rickey Dufrene told WWLTV, "She didn't get to travel home, so for her 19th birthday, her golden birthday was spent with her friends going to dinner. And we had a phone call before, told her we loved her."
Louisiana State Police reported 39-year-old Joey Clement of Thibodaux was driving northbound on Highway 20 in Chackbay. Investigators say he crossed the centerline and hit the girl's SUV head on. The three girls died at the scene, while Clement walked away with minor injuries.
RELATED: Drunk driver gets 85 years for 2021 fatal crash that killed three Nicholls State University students
Clement was traveling between 88 and 93 mph in a 55 mph zone at the time of the crash. He also had a Blood/Alcohol level of 0.22.
Dufrene described the moment he got that tragic call, saying, "Can't get off the floor, can't breathe, it's an explicable feeling... it's way worse than I could have ever imagined."
According to the Lafourche Parish DA, Clement had three previous DWI offenses in various parishes, and in 2017 he was sentenced to 2 years. His fourth DWI, he killed three people, and this week was sentenced to 85 years for it.
Kenneth Bowling said, "There's going to be a lot more dads in our position that are going to lose their children, it's got to stop."
These three grieving fathers are fighting for change, they say the mindset of the older generation needs to be reset.
Joe Coss said, "The message needs to be to the people my age that grew up doing this... he's the one we need to reach to inform hey this is wrong, there are consequences and people matter."
They're fighting for new laws to prevent people from getting behind the wheel while under the influence. Dufrene said, "We believe there needs to be a license plate color change for somebody with a DUI, we believe there needs to be a restriction placed on the license that does not allow public purchase of alcohol to get in the vehicle."
So no other father has to bear this pain again, Coss saying, "My daughter is gone and I will never get her back."
Joey Clement was found guilty of two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of negligent homicide. According to LSPO, Lily Dufrene was driving the car, and had no alcohol or drugs in her system, and was driving under the speed limit.
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