A Meridian man was sentenced to prison Thursday, a year and a half after his driving killed a local teacher and coach.
Shawn Stacy, 28, will serve at least two years, and possibly up to 17, for felony vehicular manslaughter, Third District Judge Brent Whiting ruled Thursday, according to online court records. Stacy, driving a Volkswagen Jetta, ran a stop sign “at a high rate of speed” and crashed into a Ford F-150 pickup truck carrying Jim Bittick and Loma Bittick on Feb. 9, 2023, in Greenleaf. Both Bitticks were ejected from the vehicle and Loma Bittick died at the hospital . Jim Bittick also suffered severe injuries from the crash.
None of the three people involved were wearing a seat belt.
Loma Bittick was the head volleyball coach and assistant girls basketball coach and also taught math at Greenleaf Friends Academy. Her husband, Jim Bittick, was the head coach of the girls basketball team. At the time of the crash, the pair was en route to the school to pick up the girls basketball team and head to that night’s district championship game.
The crash happened one block south of the school, at the intersection of Lower Pleasant Ridge Road and Friends Road.
“The defendant’s reckless behavior and total disregard for traffic laws led to the senseless death of a Greenleaf woman and forever changed the life of her husband, who was injured so badly his life will never be the same,” Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Kimberlee Bratcher said in a press release.
“Prison is the appropriate sentence for the pain and suffering he has caused this family and our community.”
Jim Bittick suffered life-altering injuries from the crash and has faced a long path to recovery. He had both legs amputated below the knee, lost eight fingers and has “about a third” left of the other two, he told the Idaho Press. He lives by himself, walks “a little bit with a walker and forearm crutches” and still has physical therapy to help him adjust to his protheses, he said.
Stacy also received a persistent violator enhancement and will have his driver’s license suspended for 20 years after he is released, with the first year absolute, meaning that he may be eligible for restricted driving privileges one year after his release from prison, the release said. He initially pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter but changed his plea to guilty in June.
Stacy has a history of driving violations , including having his license suspended in 2015 and 2016, and has been found guilty dozens of times for offenses including stop sign violations, speeding, following too closely, driving without privileges, not providing proof of insurance, and not wearing a seat belt.
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