READING, Pa. – Emotional testimony in a Berks County courtroom as a man learned his fate for a crash that led to the death of a two-year-old girl.
“It happened so fast,” says Erikka Phillips, the mother of the victim. “Like it was literally within five seconds, my accident, there was no time to react.”
Phillips says it’s been a very long process over the year and a half since her daughter was killed in a crash on Route 183 in Penn Township.
Family, friends and loved ones of two-year-old Journii made their way into the courtroom Monday to find out the fate of the man who was responsible for her death.
The defendant, Bernard Scherr, entered an open guilty plea in the courtroom.
Following that, an impact statement was read by Phillips about how that split second crash permanently and devastatingly altered her life forever, in the death of her daughter and serious injuries she sustained as a result of the crash.
“I just want people to really stop the crazy driving,” says Phillips. “Just really, truly think about before you go to pass someone. Think about who could be in the car, if you hit that car.”
Family members of Scherr also read statements expressing sympathy for the loss of Phillip’s child and saying the crash was a terrible tragedy. They also spoke of Scherr’s character saying he was a good man.
Scherr spoke to Phillips directly through tears apologizing saying, “I always tried to do everything right my whole life and this happens. I’m sorry, I really am.”
He was sentenced to 4 and a half to nine years on all charges and ordered to pay restitution. Phillips says she’s spending her time since the crash working on Journii’s law to help prevent other families from going through the same thing she did.
“This law will prevent anybody from getting basically a slap on the wrist,” says Phillips. “I’ll give a minimum of three to five for each sentence.”