news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM — "This young man mattered," Diane Revels said Monday as she sought justice for the son she lost to a drunken driver on March 11.

"He had hopes, and he had dreams, too."

Casey Bokhoven's family took turns telling a packed courtroom and judge how much they lost when Tolly Carr killed the 26-year-old budding chef.

Winston-Salem police said Carr drove his Ford pickup through a construction zone, ran off the road and hit Bokhoven. Carr pleaded guilty to the charges Monday morning.

In the end, a visiting judge sentenced Carr, a former local television anchor, to up to three years and three months in prison, five years probation, 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine to be paid to the public school system.

Neither family would comment after the sentencing.

"The family, as you can imagine, is emotionally spent," Jim O'Neill, Forsyth assistant district attorney, said of the Bokhovens.

He added that he believes the family was satisfied with the sentence. It was in the midrange of what Carr could have received on the charges of felony death by vehicle and felony serious injury. A DWI charge was not included in the sentencing because the more serious charges include it.

Carr's attorney, Locke Clifford, said the Carr family was stoic about the sentence.

"He's a hard worker. He's a survivor. He will overcome this," they told him.

Clifford read a statement from Carr saying he fully supported the sentence.

"I hope to emerge from prison a better man, whose No. 1 priority is to contribute to our society," Carr said.

He also thanked WXII for the opportunities afforded him there the past seven years.

Carr sat through much of the proceedings alternating between pursing his lips and covering the lower half of his face with a curled hand.

He periodically tugged at the sleeves of his charcoal gray, pin-striped suit.

Behind him, Bokhoven's parents and their spouses, and his brother and sister-in-law, sat in twos, hands clasped for much of the sentencing.

Both Carr and Bokhoven worked their way up in their respective careers.

Carr started as a production assistant before making it to news anchor at WXII (Channel 12).

Bokoven started as a dishwasher and was working with a four-star chef, planning to study this fall at the Culinary Institute of America, his family said. "We'll never see him blossom as an adult, a chef or a father," Howard Bokhoven said. "I have cried every day for the loss of my son."

Revels said she can't sleep.

"This filmstrip of Casey keeps playing over and over."

He's smiling. Happy. Turning the corner. Getting hit.

And she wonders: Did he know what was happening?

"I want my son back. I want the chance to hold him and say 'I love you' one more time."

Peggy Tatum, Carr's mother, apologized to the Bokhovens and asked for forgiveness. She called Carr a "model son" who has helped her financially and been a role model for his younger half-brother and half-sister. "I'm proud of the things he's accomplished," she said.

The Bokhovens sat quietly, faces still as a tearful Carr, who had turned to face them, apologized.

"I'm very sorry for what I did," he said. "It was reckless and irresponsible."

"I want you one day, when you're ready, to forgive me so that anger won't eat away at you," he continued. "That's my prayer for your family."

Carr's family can look forward to seeing him again, Casey's brother, Sean Bokhoven, said.

"One thing I keep thinking over and over again. His family can love him and hug him," he said.

What does he have to look forward to?

"Maybe, one day," Sean Bokhoven told the judge, "I'll be able to fall asleep without crying."

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jfernandez@news-record.com