My daughter, Ley Meredith Birmingham, was 17 years old and studying at Chattanooga State when she was killed in a single car accident Feb. 3, 2008 in Hamilton County as a result of drinking copious amount of alcohol that were supplied to her and to other minors on a regular basis at the home of a then 41-year-old man.
I know that there are those parents who may think it's ok to allow your teenagers to drink, telling them that, "If you're gonna do it, keep it at home." Well, the drinking was kept to this man's home, many weekends over months and even years time. He was not their parent, and did not, for an unknown reason, stop my daughter from leaving his house with a blood alcohol level of .18. She was dead 15 minutes later.
Why did so many kids sneak to this man's house? Because they knew that the alcohol was there and theirs for the drinking.
There is a reason for law prohibiting minors from drinking, and it's because they are still legally "kids" and don't always have the judgment that should come a few years later. Because of what happened, the man who served the alcohol to my child received a year in jail.
Even since this has happened, I am aware of parents who still allow their children to drink at home, and it's beyond me - perhaps they haven't heard of this case - or thought about the possibility of the worst case scenario happening to them, as it did to me, to her father, to her sister, to her brother, her boyfriend, her friends, her aunts and uncles and cousins, all of whom still grieve.
It never gets better. It's sad that when parents don't' allow their children to drink at home, they can often find another person, many times a friend's parent, who will do that. If my daughter's death is not enough to convince these people to not allow teens to drink at their homes, maybe Mr. Guthrie's incarceration is.
We were blessed throughout our ordeal to have incredible people helping us, from investigator Todd Cook, the original officer on the scene and the one who had to come and tell me what had happened. Mr. Cook was always available for our family to answer our questions, and be with us at court hearings. Chaplain Sergio Gutierrez of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department was with us as well. ADA Brian Findley tirelessly worked our case and always had time for us, and the victim and witness coordinator, Heather Marcado, held us all together. She is truly one in a million. We are blessed as a city and a county to have men and women like these. They probably don't ever want to have to respond to another case like this.
Please, do not provide alcohol to minors. Look yourself in the mirror and realize what you're doing to your child or someone else's child, and never do it again.
Stephanie Birmingham Babbitt
Ooltewah
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If anyone is aware of any adults(this includes parents) providing alcohol to minors, contact your local police or sheriff's department. If you know of any businesses selling alcohol directly to minors, contact the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission at (423) 634-6434 and file a complaint.
Michael Pennella