Activist against drunken driving brings personal story to battle

For the past 23 years, every time David D. Hull has faced a judge on charges of driving while intoxicated, Mildred Held has been sitting in the courtroom.

Held watched last week as Hull pleaded guilty to one felony count of drunken driving, a recent Cape Girardeau case that was moved to New Madrid County on a change of venue. Sentencing was set for Sept. 22, and Held said she plans to attend that, too.

Held has closely followed Hull's court cases since her son, Randy Held, was killed in a 1986 car wreck caused by Hull, who had been driving drunk at the time.

"I am there when he's there, I want him to see me," Held said.

Hull was convicted in 1987 on DWI and reckless homicide charges related to Randy Held's death, and issued what amounted to a five-year prison sentence.

Since then, Hull has racked up three additional DWI convictions including the one to which he pleaded guilty Tuesday, according to information from Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. As an aggravated offender he could serve up to seven years incarceration for the latest offense.

Held said she clearly remembers the last time she saw her son, about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 23, 1986, as he and his girlfriend at the time, then Wendy Lee, left the house to go to Cape Girardeau. She hugged her son, who had just turned 20 a few weeks earlier, and told him to be careful, she said.

About an hour later, a police car pulled into the Helds' driveway, and they heard a knock on the door. "All they would tell us was we needed to go to Southeast [Missouri] Hospital," Held said. "I don't think I've ever been so afraid in my life."

When they reached the hospital, they were met in the lobby by state troopers, who said Randy Held had died as a result of injuries sustained when a vehicle driven by Hull struck the passenger side of his car. The wreck occurred on Route 3 between Olive Branch and Thebes, Ill., close to the Helds' home. The crash left Lee, who had been driving, in a coma for six weeks, Held said.

Since the accident, Lee, who is now married with a son, came to be like a member of the Held family. She attended Hull's court proceedings last week, Held said.

Following her son's death, Held said she attended some meetings designed to help grieving parents, but that they weren't for her. Then she spotted an advertisement for Mothers Against Drunk Driving and began attending meetings.

"I was with people that knew just how I felt," Held said.

At one time she served as a president of the group, becoming something of a local spokeswoman against drunken driving. She said she understands peer pressure can sometimes overwhelm teens trying to do the right thing.

She recalls a time when she was grocery shopping and a man approached her with his family to tell her he'd heard her speak at a MADD meeting.

"He said, ‘When I heard you talk [was] the day I made up my mind I was never going to drink and drive again,'" she said.

The Cape Girardeau branch of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is not actively holding meetings, and Held said she misses them.

"It just makes you feel like you're helping someone," she said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635

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