DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - A former Dallas firefighter who killed a pregnant mother and her unborn child five years ago in a drunk driving accident has taken a plea deal. Horace Shaw, 50 Dallas, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter. He had been charged with intoxication manslaughter. He was sentenced to 14 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The accident happened Dec. 13, 2017 near Cedar Hill. Alysa Pimentel, 18, was a passenger in a car that was driven by her boyfriend. At the time. she was nine months pregnant.
Shaw was showing off and had the smell of alcohol on his breath when police arrived on the scene, according to an arrest affidavit. The document says Shaw was driving her Mercedes Benz more than 100-miles an hour at the time of impact.
Pimentel was rushed to a hospital, where doctors delivered her son, Josiah, by emergency C-Section. The baby lived about 45 minutes before dying.
Family member were mildly happy to get some justice, but angry that Shaw took two lives and did not get more time.
“Two life sentences,” said Jayne Pimentel, when asked what she thought a more appropriate sentence should be. “That’s what it is for us. The judicial system, the laws as they stand now for drunk driving and the incredible impact it has on the family is completely unjust, in our opinion. We lost two-thirds of our family.”
Pimentel said she never had a chance to hold their grandson. She is even more angered that Shaw’s fellow firefighters seemed to back him.
“I had to sit Friday, the entire day, almost, and listen to former and current firefighters tell us that it was unfortunate. It was an accident. We had pastors state to the judge that he was also a victim. And, no accountability.
Pimentel understands why prosecutors offered the plea agreement and the 14-year prison term. She says the family agreed to the terms of the plea agreement because there was a chance that Shaw could have received no prison time.
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