Judge sentences SBU student to 15 days in jail for fatal wreck

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man convicted of killing three fellow Southwest Baptist University students in a drunken driving wreck will spend his graduation and Christmas behind bars, but the 15-day jail term meted out Wednesday brought no relief to victims' relatives.

The judge suspended the maximum six-month jail term for Tyler Wasmer, earlier convicted of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in the December 2000 crash.

Wasmer instead was ordered taken into custody immediately for five days, causing him to miss Friday's graduation where he was to receive his bachelor's degree in sports management. Wasmer was to be locked up again Dec. 23 for 10 more days.

It was little consolation for the families of victims.

"His life has gone on with no consequence," said Janet Edgeman, who lost a niece in the wreck. "He will finish school, go on and have a career, and perhaps one day, marry."

Wasmer lost control of his Jeep Cherokee on Missouri 13 on the way back to the Bolivar campus after a night of drinking in Springfield, despite a school policy forbidding alcohol consumption. The vehicle skidded off the road and smashed into a tree, setting the engine ablaze.

Killed were Greg Germany, 23, of Rogersville; Mary Miller, 20, of Niangua, both basketball players at Southwest Baptist; and Byron Phillips, 27, of Anna, Ill., whose wife, Leslie, was a member of the volleyball team.

Jamie Roszell survived the wreck but was blinded in one eye and unable to continue her basketball career.

One-semester suspension

A test given more than three hours after the wreck showed Wasmer's blood alcohol level was .102 -- .002 above the legal limit at the time. He suffered serious injuries and was in a wheelchair for weeks but returned to class after a one-semester suspension.

Wasmer, originally from Independence, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault and would have faced a maximum of 28 years in prison if convicted of the initial four felony counts.

He received a single DWI conviction after the judge ruled Wasmer was asleep when the vehicle left the road.

It is illegal to drive drunk, but according to the law, it is not, in itself, criminally negligent. Prosecuting attorneys could site no case in which falling asleep behind the wheel constituted criminal negligence.

Wasmer did not address the court during Wednesday's sentencing. His attorney, Dee Wampler, described Wasmer as an "Eagle Scout, choir boy," who had never been in trouble before the wreck.

"Every single day, he wakes up with the punishment of knowing he was responsible for this accident," Wampler said.

Some of the harshest words came from Roszell, who said she was "mad, angry and upset" about the wreck.

"I look in the mirror and see my disfigured face, which will always be there," said Roszell, 20, of Neosho. "All of this could have been stopped, but he didn't think of the consequences."

Barbara Gaylor, victims advocate for the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, called the case a travesty.

"I am very troubled that felony charges can be dropped against an individual who has made the decision to drink and then gets behind the wheel and kills three people," Gaylor said. "At the end of this, the only thing he will have is a misdemeanor DWI on his record."

Southwest Baptist spokeswoman Tamera Heitz-Peek said the university would have no comment.

A memorial plaque has been erected in the student union at the Bolivar campus where 1,700 students attend class. University officials also have intensified their anti-alcohol message, discussing the spiritual reasons for abstaining.