Murderer’s Row newsletter puts face to killings involving drugged drivers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Murderer’s Row – it’s a regular newsletter that traffic prosecutors publish in Tennessee. The goal is to let the public see the faces of these killers, and the dangers of driving impaired.
In our special reports, Drugged Driving, News 2 sat down with a Dickson County mother whose son was killed by a drugged driver.
Every parent fears it, but Carol Akers lived it.
“I have to live with this pain. Jacob’s whole family lives with pain that I’ll have until the day I die,” said Akers.
Her beloved son, her oldest boy, Jacob, was killed in a car crash.
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“I remember going home and not being able to sleep for it felt like weeks, months. And just laying down and wishing you could go to sleep and not wake up because of how bad it hurt. It just hurt so bad inside,” said Akers.
The driver was convicted of drugged driving.
“What the blood test showed was hydrocodone, which is an opiate, and amphetamines, which was probably meth,” said Akers. “He denied using heroin all the way until his third parole hearing. And then he admitted to using heroin that night.”
Akers lost her son, Jacob’s fiancé lost her life partner, and the world lost a man who only wanted to make things better.
Jacob had graduated from Lipscomb University in 2014 and was headed to medical school.
“His goal was to volunteer a lot with doctors without borders and go to those third world countries and just help people,” said Akers. “Very dedicated and nothing was going to stop him.”
But something did stop him – a drugged driver – on highway 49 in Dickson County. It’s a story that, unfortunately, Prosecutor Linda Sharer knows all too well.
“Honestly, I think it’s all about responsibility,” said Sharer.
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Sharer is a traffic safety resource prosecutor in Nashville. Her team helps law enforcement statewide handle drugged driving cases. They also publish Murderer’s Row, a newsletter warning the public about the lives changed from drugged driving.
The first three months of this year, there were 240 people killed on Tennessee roads. Thirty-four of those involved drugged driving, according to new state data.
“I think it’s important because people don’t understand that vehicular homicide is vehicular homicide. Homicide being the unlawful killing of another,” said Sharer. “And when we are talking about murderer’s row in our newsletter, we’re talking about vehicular homicide by intoxication.”
“My purpose is to give the truth as well as I can to everyone I can.
Akers shares Jacob’s story in hopes it can save another family from her grief. Jacob’s killer was released this year after serving seven years, and she’s worried what could happen next.
“It scares me that he’s out. I’m just afraid of this happening to another person,” said Akers.
Akers wants drugged driving laws strengthened. Similar to a blood alcohol level, she would like the law to recognize impairment if any illegal drug is in a driver’s system.
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