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Former WXII-12 anchor Tolly Carr was released to his parole officer at 1 a.m. Monday from Camp Burton in McLeansville, a deputy superintendent said, after Carr served more than two years in a 2007 drunken-driving crash that killed a Winston-Salem chef.

The well-known former sports reporter, avoiding cameras in an unusual middle-of-the-night release, returned to his home in Greensboro, Assistant Superintendent Linwood Best said.

Carr, 34, pleaded guilty to felony death by motor vehicle in the crash in March 2007 that killed Casey Bokhoven, 26.

Carr was driving his pickup on First Street in Winston-Salem, lost control and hit Bokhoven, who was walking along a construction zone. The WXII anchor had been bar-hopping, and his blood-alcohol level was two to three times the legal limit, according to court testimony. Carr’s passenger was also seriously injured in the crash.

The former morning anchor, who declined requests for interviews, as did the victim’s family, said at his sentencing, “I should be the one who is dead.”

He will be required to make undisclosed restitution payments to the victim’s survivors beginning next May.

At the minimum security prison in McLeansville, Best said, Carr acquired no infractions and had “excellent” participation in self-help substance-abuse programs, a prison dog training program and a job as a library clerk.

“You wouldn’t have known he was an inmate, to be honest,” Best said. “He did his job.”

Carr had been allowed into the community on brief volunteer passes, including a speech on the dangers of drunken driving. But he had acknowledged at his sentencing that he could not bring back the life he had taken from his victim.

Casey Bokhoven worked at Forsyth Country Club, and at the time of his death, planned to attend culinary school.

As for Carr’s plans in rejoining the community, his defense attorney, Locke Clifford, told the Winston-Salem Journal that Carr is “wide open.”

But a return to television would likely be too controversial for any station, media expert Jill Geisler of the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., told the Journal. Though Carr might find a role in raising awareness about drunken driving, his local celebrity status will be a double-edged sword.

“Tragedies like these take their toll first and foremost on the victims and their families,” Geisler told the Journal, “and then on the lives of those high-profile individuals who have committed them.”

Carr, leaving prison five hours earlier than the usual 6 a.m. release, indicated through his lawyer that he would refuse interviews, as did his parole officer.

Likewise, Bokhoven’s family did not wish to be interviewed.

“This is the first time I’ve mentioned his name in how long,” Sean Bokhoven, Casey’s brother, told the Journal. “It’s about Casey, for us.”

In the hours before Carr’s Ford F150 truck ran through a barricade, over a mound of gravel, went airborne and struck Bokhoven, according to court testimony, Carr had gone to three bars with his cousin and friends from the station.

Experts testified, he must have had the equivalent of 17 drinks, and friends saw him order beer, wine and martinis over the course of the night.

Besides the criminal case, Carr faced a civil lawsuit by the victim's family, which was settled.

The family also sued several bars that served Carr that night, and reached undisclosed settlements.

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn@news-record.com