By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Samantha Hammons has been sentenced to prison for orphaning an 8-month-old boy when she left a bar on Dec. 9, got behind the wheel, and drove 109 mph seconds before she smashed into the rear of a car carrying the baby’s parents.
The family and friends of Jacob Hahn, 24, and Savannah Harding, 22, of Woodville, filled the Wood County Common Pleas Courtroom on Thursday afternoon, looking for justice. Extra chairs were brought in to handle the crowd.
Prior to handing down the sentence, Wood County Common Pleas Judge Matt Reger told those present that he had received 94 letters from family and friends who were suffering from the “senseless and preventable” act.
Family members choked back sobs as they described the sorrow of planning for the couple’s wedding one day, and mourning their deaths the next. They spoke of the couple’s son, Beckett, who will only know his parents through photographs.
Reger sentenced Hammons, 55, of Toledo, to a minimum definitive term of 20 years, and an indefinite term of possibly an additional four years. She will never be able to get a driver’s license again.
Hammons pleaded guilty to all five counts – two aggravated vehicular homicide, two aggravated vehicular assault, and one operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Hammons, in shackles and wearing a bright orange jail sweatshirt, was given a chance to speak prior to the sentencing.
“I’m very sorry for what happened. I pray daily for these families,” she said, adding that she entered a guilty plea to all charges to spare the families from having to go through a trial. “I’m totally responsible.”
But some family members, suffering from the loss of the young couple, questioned the sincerity and wondered if Hammons knew the evidence was stacked against her and believed she might get sympathy from the court by pleading guilty.
Reger, who for 20 years prosecuted DUI cases as a municipal prosecutor, noted the severity of this case.
“The harm in this case was great,” he said.
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brian Boos painted a picture of what took place the evening of Dec. 9, just before 7 p.m.
Hammons left a bar and got in her 2018 Kia Soul, with her two adult daughters, and headed west on U.S. 20, toward Perrysburg. As she was approaching the Lemoyne Road overpass, Hammons reached a speed of 109 mph, Boos said.
The crash investigation showed that Hammons applied the brakes a half a second prior to ramming into the back of the 2016 Ford Fusion, driven by Hahn with Harding as his passenger.
The collision reportedly caused the Fusion to spin into the eastbound lane where it was struck by a 2019 Dodge Journey operated by Zachery Bollinger.
Hahn and Harding were both declared dead at the scene.
Bollinger, with passengers Megan Jock and Gabriella Bollinger, all of Clyde, were transported to Mercy St. Vincent Toledo for treatment of injuries.
Hammons was treated and released and her passengers were not injured.
Bodycam footage from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office showed Hammond on the scene, saying “I admit it. I was driving,” Boos said. Her blood alcohol content was 0.16, double the legal limit, he added.
Hammons’ attorney, Todd Noll, told the court that his client had never been arrested for or convicted of OVI in the past.
Boos suggested a long enough sentence be imposed to prevent others from getting behind the wheel when drunk.
“It only takes one time to wreck a family,” Boos said.
Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson said while he would have liked the maximum sentence of 26 years to be imposed, “we’re pleased that the court imposed as much as they did.”
“Nothing will mitigate this terrible tragedy,” Dobson said. “Hopefully this gives some closure to the family.”
Prior to sentencing, several family members of Hahn and Harding spoke of their immeasurable loss.
Tiffany McMillin spoke of losing Savannah, her “beautiful baby girl.”
“She was the center of our universe,” spending her time as a teenager horseback riding, working in the barn, participating in 4-H, FFA and Junior Fair Board.
“All that was taken from us,” her mom said.
When Savannah and Jacob began dating, they were inseparable, McMillin said.
“They did everything together. They were two peas in a pod,” she said.
Both were hard-working, and both loved raising their son, Beckett.
“Beckett now has to grow up not knowing the two people who loved him the most,” McMillin said. “All because some random stranger couldn’t be a responsible adult.”
The penalty allowed under the law is a “slap in the face” to those who loved the young couple. “Even the maximum is not enough,” McMillin said.
Savannah’s sister, Morgan McMillin, said the crash robbed Beckett of learning how to kick a soccer ball or drive stick shift from his dad, or how to ride a horse from his mom. While other kids at school will take home crafts made for their parents, Beckett will take them to the cemetery, she said.
Jacob’s brother, Brandon Hahn, talked about looking up to his older brother. A family friend shared how Jacob had a strong work ethic and a kind heart, grocery shopping or shoveling snow for elderly neighbors.
Savannah’s dad, Job McMillin, shook as he talked about the loss of both young people. Dec. 9 had started out as a wonderful day of baking Christmas cookies together. That changed in an instant.
“Instead of walking Savannah down the aisle, we’d be placing them side by side in a grave,” Job McMillin said.
Rebecca Von Sacken, a victims’ advocate with the prosecutor’s office, also shared a statement from the family in the eastbound vehicle, which crashed into Hahn’s car when it was pushed into the oncoming lane by Hammons’ car.
“I had no time to react,” Zach Bollinger said. He and the front seat passenger suffered serious injuries, and could not get to their 2-year-old daughter in the backseat, who was screaming for them.
Neither of the parents have been able to work since the crash, and Bollinger said he is haunted by the image of the deceased victims.
