Judge sentences teen to 10-years of church for DUI death



A judge in Oklahoma handed down an unconventional sentence of 10 years of church on Tuesday to a teenager who pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for a DUI crash.



Tyler Alred, 17, had been charged as a youthful offender for the crash on December 3, 2011 that took the life of 16-year-old John Luke Dum of Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Dum was a passenger in the red pickup truck that Alred was driving on the night of the crash and he was ejected from the vehicle when the truck crashed. Breathalyzer tests from that fateful night showed that Alred had a blood-alcohol content of .006.

Sentence: Oklahoma District Judge Mike Norman (left) sentenced 17-year-old Tyler Alred (right) to attend church for 10 years, for Tyler's guilty plea to manslaughter



Tragic: John Luke Dum, 16, died in December 2011, when he was a passenger in Tyler Alred's truck and the vehicle crashed while the driver was intoxicated

An emotional scene played out on Tuesday when District Judge Mike Norman announced the sentence, as Alred made a statement to the family of the victim, he first time addressing them since the 2011 crash, according to the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper .

‘I know my words cannot bring him back,’ Alred said. ‘I did not want to do what I did. I want to change my life. I have changed my life,’ as he wept openly.

‘This is terrible,’ he said. ‘This is awful.’

As Alred broke down, Dum’s father, John, stood and embraced the emotional teen and began sobbing as he held the boy.

‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,’ the teenager repeated.

Members of the Dum family had read statements expressing their loss and their hope that Alred would learn from his mistake.

Despite their grief, the victim’s sister, Caitlin, said ‘We don’t need to see two lives wasted for a mistake.’

Judge Norman gave Alred a 10-year deferred sentence, which is the maximum for a juvenile.