HOUSTON – Graye Coody pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter in the death of Charles "Charlie" Garley in April 2013.
Garley's wife, Monchelle, came to court Tuesday to look her husband's killer in the eye for the first time. She lost both her husband and her unborn child.
"Do you understand how many lives you have affected with your carelessness?" asked Monchelle Garley.
She was in the car when her husband died.
"For the first six months I could not sleep on the left side of my body because of you. I saw my husband's body mangled. On the floor. I couldn't touch him. I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't say goodbye," said Monchelle Garley.
Charles Garley was killed as he put air in his tire at a convenience store on Aldine Mail Route near the Eastex Freeway. The accident was captured on surveillance video as a pickup plowed through the parking lot of the store.
Monchelle Garley said, "He was a human being that you just left on the ground like he was road kill. Like he was a squirrel or a dog."
Coody was found to be under the influence of bath salts, which was a first for prosecutors. Now Monchelle Garley said prevention is her goal.
"A couple of minutes high is not worth the pain that your family's put through," she said.
In time, Monchelle Garley hopes to forgive. For now, she prayed for Coody's soul and that he never forget the life he ended.
She closed her victim's impact statement with, "This pain is real. Remember my face because I can't forget yours."
Coody was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in five years.