NORFOLK — A Portsmouth man was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for a drunken, high-speed crash that resulted in his girlfriend’s death.
Jonathan Brownell, 36, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated involuntary vehicular manslaughter. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to seek no more than 12½ years in exchange for his plea.
Norfolk Circuit Judge Mary Jane Hall issued the prison term to Brownell after hearing emotional testimony from several friends and family members of Samantha Leigh Sims, 23, who was killed in the crash, as well as from Brownell.
Sims’ mother, brother, and friends described her as a loving, kind and bubbly person who was a “bright light” to all who knew her.
“She was always so happy,” Sims’ friend, Heather Bush, told the judge. “She was just that soul that you wanted to be around.”
The incident happened at 2:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 2021, on Interstate 64 near the Granby Street exit, which was under construction.
According to prosecutors, the car’s airbag control module showed Brownell was driving between 95 and 103 mph when he lost control and slammed into a street sweeper truck.
Sims was sitting in the front passenger seat and died on impact. A construction worker in the area had to jump over a guardrail to avoid being hit, Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Woodley said.
The car was pinned under the truck, and emergency personnel had to cut the vehicle open to extract Brownell from the driver’s seat. His blood alcohol content was tested about an hour later and was estimated to be between .16 and .18% — at least twice the legal limit. Brownell suffered a broken leg, ankle and ribs and spent several days in the hospital.
Sharon Sims, Samantha’s mother, testified during the sentencing hearing that Brownell had claimed a blown tire had caused the accident. She didn’t find out about his speeding or drunken condition until months later, when details of the crash started to emerge.
A former neighbor of Brownell’s and Samantha Sims testified she frequently heard loud thuds on the wall as well Brownell yelling expletives at Sims. She said she also heard Sims crying during those times. The woman said she never did anything about it because she was afraid.
“I’m haunted constantly by it,” the woman testified as her voice choked with emotion. “I regret every day not coming over and knocking on your door because I was afraid of what you would do to me and my family,” she said as she looked at Brownell at the defense table.
The mother of Brownell’s son also testified. She said she wasn’t surprised to find out that he was speeding when the crash occurred because he did the same when she and her son were in a car with him in an effort to scare her.
While Brownell told the judge he accepted responsibility for what he’d done, he claimed he’d stopped drinking hours before the accident, and that he wasn’t going that fast. He also continued to claim a blown tire led to the crash.
“This really wasn’t an accident,” Hall said to him before issuing her sentence. “I think you have been consistently minimizing your role in this tragedy.”
Jane Harper, [email protected]
