CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Families and friends are still seeking justice for three young lives lost three years ago today in a DUI crash on Ashland City Road.
Megan Black, 20, Shayna Shidell, 19, and Randall Pierce, 21, were all killed in a crash on Ashland City Road near Robin Hill Road on Sept. 24, 2017.
Jeffrey Joiner been charged with causing that crash, and he entered a “best-interest” guilty plea to three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of DUI back in January this year.
He is still out on bond, three years after the crash.
Joiner’s sentencing hearing has been delayed three times, with the new sentencing scheduled for Oct. 14, 2020, in Judge William Goodman’s court.
This delay is hinged on complications in court proceedings from the COVID-19 pandemic, but mainly Joiner’s defense team entering evidence trying to prove that Black, the driver, was also drunk and had crossed into his lane.
Black’s toxicology report showed that her blood alcohol content was .01 over that of Joiner’s the night of the crash, Katina Meehan told Clarksville Now.
Meeehan is the mother of Shayna’s best friend Jazzmine.
“Hopefully this will be the last (hearing). He lost his license for three years. Well, now the three years are up and he gets it back. … He’s able to drive again. It’s just not right,” Meehan said.
According to Missy Shidell, Shayna’s mother, that Black was also drunk doesn’t negate that Joiner was going 70 mph on Ashland City Road.
“(This delay) is not justice for them. What they’re doing and what they’re allowing Jeffrey Joiner and his lawyer to get away with is spitting on those kids,” Missy Shidell said.
Attempting to shift the narrative and blame back onto those who died in this crash is failing them, Shayna’s friends and families said. The sentencing as it stands would only result in Joiner serving 2.7 years per death.
“Well that’s not right; you took three lives. You destroyed three families,” Missy Shidell said. “My daughter Shayna was completely clean, her toxicology report came back completely clean.”
Joiner’s lawyer did not return calls seeking comment.
Shayna’s friends are trying to remember the good today.
“My daughter was very introverted, and Shayna was always so outgoing, so bubbly and at times, obnoxious. But she would bring my daughter out of that when she was around. But since then, (my daughter) goes to work, and stays in her room. It’s really taken a toll on her, and everybody,” Katina Meehan said.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated incorrectly that Joiner had prior DUIs. He was charged in this case with DUI-First Offense. There is no record of a prior DUI. The article also should have said it was a “best-interest” guilty plea. The article has been updated.