New London ― It could happen to anybody.

At his New London Superior Court sentencing hearing Friday, Daniel P. Brockway, 34, of Waterford, said “one split second of not paying attention to the road” was all it took.

Brockway was facing up to four years in prison and five years of probation after pleading no contest to second-degree manslaughter in connection with a rear-end crash that killed 35-year-old Leotie May Miller of Pennsylvania on Interstate 95 in Waterford in 2018. The prosecutor’s office pushed for a full four-year prison term.

In the end, Judge Ernest Green Jr. gave Brockway a 10-year prison sentence, to be suspended after six months. He also ordered five years of probation with 100 hours of community service each year to benefit a nonprofit organization concerned with the arts or autism.

Brockway told police after the crash on July 15, 2018 that he had looked down for a second and did not see traffic stopped in front of him. No drugs or alcohol were detected in his system.

Miller’s family asked for community service, not jail time, during the tearful proceedings. Her father, Ricky Miller, stood up in the courtroom during his victim’s impact statement to express quiet empathy for the man behind the wheel when his daughter lost her life.

“I’ve done many things like that myself,” Ricky Miller said. “I could’ve killed somebody’s daughter.”

He asked for a “creative sentence” that would allow Brockway to continue to work in support of his family.

Brockway’s attorney, Russell S. Palmer, said his client works as a driver for Frito-Lay.

Brockway’s mother, Shirley Brockway, began to sob as two court marshals approached her son at the announcement of the sentence. She cried through the judge’s explanation and when the marshals put him in handcuffs.

The impact

Miller’s mother Cheryl gave her impact statement on a video feed from her home in Pennsylvania. She said she’d been unable to take extended trips on the road since her daughter died.

“My daughter gave up her life for your life lesson,” she told the defendant. “Please Mr. Brockway, make this a lesson you will never forget.”

She observed Brockway’s young son, Leo, shares Leotie’s nickname.

Brockway in his statement said he will never forgive himself, and will never forget Leotie Miller.

“I am reminded of her every time I look at or interact with my son,” he said.

Prosecutor Rafael Bustamante acknowledged the man’s clean life, lack of a criminal record and role as a responsible provider for his family.

At the mention of his two young sons, Brockway’s girlfriend and mother of their children cried audibly and turned away from the proceedings.

“It was one of those cases: ‘There but for the grace of God go I,’” Bustamante said. “However, I can’t ignore a person lost their life on that particular date and time.”

Police said Brockway was traveling south on I-95 in Waterford when his Ford F250 pickup truck struck two vehicles stopped in heavy traffic. Leotie Miller was a rear passenger in one of the vehicles hit.

The driver of the vehicle in which Miller was a passenger told police that Brockway’s truck was traveling at 60 to 70 miles per hour and made no attempts to slow down before the crash.

The prosecutor said a witness who’d seen Brockway about a mile prior to the crash told police it appeared he was on his phone at that point.

Palmer later told The Day there is no evidence his client was on his phone at the time of the crash.

The victim’s sister, Hannah Morley, afterward said the family is still “not even sure” what distracted the driver.

A shining light

Leotie Miller was described by her family during the sentencing hearing as an artist, baker and dollmaker. She was prone to anxiety and had been bullied growing up. She fought for the underdog.

Morley said her sister had just been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome a year prior to her death and had only begun to overcome life-long fears of traveling. She was coming back from a camping trip with friends when she died.

She told Brockway that carrying on Leotie’s legacy means loving his own family like her sister loved hers, and doing good for others.

“(You are) obligated to live your best life,” she said, calling for meaningful community service. “There are many struggling people who use art as an outlet. Help them shine.”

Palmer, representing Brockway, spoke in a choked voice before Green delivered the sentence as he thanked the Miller family for the forgiveness they showed in calling for community service.

He was also supportive of an agreement to include mental health evaluation and treatment as a condition of probation. He recalled his client’s mother asking him to help convince Brockway to get counseling for symptoms that she thought pointed to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Palmer asked for 250 hours of community service per year instead of incarceration.

Going too fast

The judge said ordering six months of jail time was part of his responsibility to balance punishment and rehabilitation.

He acknowledged the victim’s efforts to conquer her anxiety about traveling in a car.

“She ventured out even though she was fearful and the results of that bring us here today,” he said.

He compared Leotie Miller’s “extraordinary life” to Brockway’s “ordinary” one, citing the man’s role as a family man and provider.

“Your ordinary life is also exemplary,” he told Brockway.

According to Green, the case reinforces the dangers of a fast-paced world filled with distractions.

“We’re going just a little too fast and are not in the moment,” he said.

There have to be consequences when the failure to be mindful results in the death of another human being, according to the judge.

Life can be impacted in a second, he reiterated.

It is better to focus on the ride, he said: “Not texting, or not picking up the call, or not doing anything other than driving.”

e.regan@theday.com