CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Palikna Tosie, convicted of the 2021 reckless homicide of a 62-year-old woman, has been sentenced to seven years in prison and $100 in fines.
On April 8, 2021, just after 5 p.m., Tosie was driving over 80 mph in a 45 mph zone when he hit two vehicles near Fort Campbell Boulevard, causing one to flip. The driver of that vehicle, 62-year-old Kimberly Randolph, died at the scene.
Tosie, now 51, was indicted on charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving, lack of due care and speeding. At the start of his trial, he pleaded guilty to speeding but maintained innocence on the other three counts. On March 24, a jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of reckless homicide, reckless driving, and failure to exercise due care.
Randolph’s death left ‘a hole in our hearts’
On Sept. 10, at Tosie’s sentencing hearing, Ashley Randolph took the stand to address Tosie on behalf of her family. “I am the daughter of Kimberly Randolph,” Ashely said. “A kind, caring and loving woman who was taken from this world far too soon.”
Ashley told Clarksville Now that her mother was like the “Energizer Bunny,” always on the go to visit family and friends. Kimberly was a retired teacher, and when she wasn’t visiting a friend or redecorating her daughter’s house, she was doing yoga. Kimberly was the glue that brought the family together.
“My mom didn’t deserve to die alone in her car in the middle of Fort Campbell Boulevard,” Ashley told the court. “She always tried to make this world a better place. She wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Ashley said her mother had no way of knowing another driver was ignoring the speed limit and traveling with “no regard for anyone else’s safety.”
“Now, my family has a hole in our hearts that will never be filled on this side of Heaven,” Ashley said. “We are asking the court to deliver a sentence that reflects the seriousness of our loss. For my mom, for our family, and to protect others from the kind of devastation that we live with every day.”
Palikna Tosie: ‘I have lost everything’
Tosie, addressed the court and discussed hardships he endured in the years leading up to and following the crash.
“I served in the U.S. Army for 29 years active duty; I gave my all,” Tosie said. “But unfortunately, toward the end, I found out that I picked the wrong wife.”
According to previous reports, Tosie was arrested in 2018 and charged with first-degree attempted murder, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault after crashing his wife’s car, assaulting her, and then barricading himself in his home. Tosie explained that, on that day, he came home drunk and caught his wife cheating.
In exchange for six years of probation, he pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and aggravated assault, while the attempted murder charge was dismissed. However, the Army was not satisfied and court-martialed him. In June 2020, the Army sentenced him to six months at Fort Leavenworth and dishonorably discharged him.
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“I came from jail (Leavenworth) to nothing,” Tosie told the judge. “Only a few months after I was released from Fort Leavenworth is when the accident happened. And it is obvious that I made the wrong decision.
“To Mrs. Randolph’s family, there is nothing I can stand up here and say that will make things any better for you, and I understand that,” Tosie told the family. “I understand that you will want the max for me, and I would want the same thing if I had lost a loved one. … I have accepted my responsibility for speeding from Day 1. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. I am really sorry.”
7 years and $100 in fines
Originally, Tosie was facing one count of vehicular homicide, a Class C felony, but the jury found him guilty of a lesser-included charge of reckless homicide, a Class D felony instead.
Two of his charges will run concurrent with each other, and Tosie was issued a total of $100 in fines. According to the judgement sheet, here is a breakdown of Tosie’s sentence:
- Reckless homicide: 7 years at the Tennessee Department of Corrections, with an eligibility for release at 35% of time served.
- Reckless driving: 6 months at the Montgomery County Jail, served concurrent with count one.
- Failure to exercise due care: $50 fine.
- Speeding: $50 fine.
“My mom is gone,” Ashley told Clarksville Now. “He very likely took decades from her life and caused my family years of pain. We are thankful that he is serving some time, but at the end of the day we still don’t have her (Kimberly).”
“To the drivers of Clarksville, I would just like to remind everyone that everybody out there driving is someone’s loved one,” Ashley said. “This was my mother, our family adored her, and everyone else out there has people too that care about them. That’s really important to remember so that you make the best choices you can, you don’t get behind the wheel when you shouldn’t be driving, and you don’t try to do twice the speed limit.”
| PREVIOUSLY:
- Trial begins for man charged with 2021 vehicular homicide on Fort Campbell Boulevard
- 4 takeaways from vehicle homicide trial: No autopsy, selective memories, daughter’s testimony, crash data
- Day 3 of vehicle homicide trial: Expert witnesses give different opinions on fault in crash
- Speeding death trial: Driver guilty of reckless homicide in crash on Fort Campbell Boulevard