After losing their children to a drunk driver in Dallas, the parents of Lauren and CJ Davis are calling for a new law. It would require a minimum five-year sentence in similar cases—far more than the four months served in their tragedy. NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans has the story.
Parents of a young couple killed by a drunk driver in Dallas are pushing for a new law.
The law would mandate suspects in similar cases to spend a minimum of five years behind bars, much longer than the four months served by the person who plowed into Lauren and CJ Davis.
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WATCH HERENearly a decade after their children's deaths, grief has evolved for Troy and Tammy Benthall, and Sally Davis, parents of Lauren and CJ Davis.
“It’s gotten easier for us because we do it so often,” Tammy Benthall said about visiting her daughter and son-in-law’s gravesite in Kennedale.
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SIGN UP The couple had a classic romance, meeting at church and becoming inseparable.
“Lauren came home and said, ‘I like him Mom. I really, really like him,’” recalled Benthall. “They were both head over heels for each other.”
Lauren and CJ were married in 2014, and to celebrate CJ's 26th birthday the next year, Lauren gave him tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game.
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But they never made it.
After leaving dinner, they were walking to the AAC on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, when a drunk driver ran a red light at the intersection of Harry Hines Boulevard and Moody Street and struck the couple who were crossing the road.
CJ died at the scene, and Lauren died at the hospital the next day.
“There was a lot of grief. I had bought the tickets so CJ wouldn’t know about it, and I thought if I’d just not bought them tickets, but you can't do that, you'll go crazy,” said Benthall.
Compounding the pain was the sentence the suspect received.
“The drunk driver that killed Lauren and CJ got five years’ probation and 120 days in jail and that’s it,” said Benthall.
The story is a catalyst for a proposed law authored by Collin County Rep. Jeff Leach.
HB 1760 would mandate at least five years’ imprisonment for intoxication manslaughter convictions.
“It would just mean that they didn’t die in vain,” said Benthall.
The bill, named Lauren and CJ’s Law, has been introduced in the last two legislative sessions.
This time, they want their persistence to pay off.
“It is frustrating that we can’t do something so that other people won’t have to go through what we went through,” said Benthall.
Lauren and CJ’s Law remains in the House Corrections Committee.
