GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A drunk driver was sentenced to years behind bars for a deadly 2022 hit-and-run crash in Wyoming.
On Monday, Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Quist sentenced Raysheen Harris to serve between 100 months and 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. on July 22, 2022, on S. Division Avenue near 36th Street in Wyoming. Investigators said Harris was driving between 80 and 90 miles per hour when he struck 56-year-old Nelson William Smith, who was riding a bicycle across the street.
When he was arrested, police said Harris, 32, had a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit for driving.
In a statement, Smith’s family thanked “all those who helped bring justice for the death of our dad” but said they ultimately felt “the justice system let our dad down.”
“We feel 8 1/2 to 15 years incarcerated isn’t long enough for taking a life,” Smith’s daughter wrote in an email on behalf of the family. “He didn’t just kill our dad, he took all the moments we were still supposed to have, moments he (was) going to have with his own children and that pain will be with us for the rest of our lives.”
Smith’s daughter told News 8 the family intended to “fight to make sure (Harris) stays incarcerated as long as possible.”
In July, a jury found Harris guilty of involuntary manslaughter.