An Asheville limousine driver has been sentenced to at least 12 years in prison for a wreck that killed a newlywed couple from the Philadelphia area.
Forty-six-year-old Rodney Koon pleaded guilty to two counts of felony death by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child and driving while impaired during a hearing in Asheville on Monday.
The Aug. 11 crash killed 26-year-old Will Reid, his 25-year-old wife, Jamie Reid, and the couple's unborn child.
Investigators say the Reids were in the backseat of Koon's limousine when the car ran off a highway and hit a tree at about 55 mph.
After a long investigation, police determined that Koon was under the influence at the time of the crash.
The couple had come to Asheville to attend a friend's wedding and was heading to the Asheville Regional Airport for the return flight home when the crash occurred.
Will and Jamie had just gotten married less than three months before the deadly crash. William worked as a math teacher with the People for People Charter School in Philadelphia. He was named the Valedictorian for Phillipsburg High School Class of 2005, earned a BA degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Education Degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jamie, who grew up in Washington, moved to Philadelphia after graduating Magna Cum Laude at Whitman College. She joined Teach for America and taught writing as well as literature to middle schoolers in Philadelphia. Before her death, she taught at Harrity Elementary, a mastery charter school in Philadelphia. Reid also earned a Masters degree in Urban Education from the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated with William in May of 2012.
"The whole life history of your child runs past you in a very brief period of time. It's a terrible thing," said Anne Reid, Will's mother.
