MOUNT VERNON — Levi O’Rourke stood before a packed courtroom on the morning of May 18 and told all who would listen about the kind of person his wife, Samantha, was.
The kind of mother she was. The kind of friend she was.
“Samantha had the sweetest voice. She had the most warming smile, the most infectious laugh,” said Levi, a Mount Vernon resident, reading from notes he’d written earlier that morning in a black leather book.
His hands shook as he held it, and his voice trembled. He paused several times to collect himself – breathing deeply as his older brother comforted him in the second row of the gallery – but he never stopped.
“She was an amazing wife and an amazing person. And I was her husband, and a father (to her children),” Levi continued. “I felt like the biggest man in the world when I held her hand with those kids.”
Levi said he was in court that day because he’ll never experience that feeling again.
Samantha died Aug. 1, 2022 from injuries sustained in a head-on collision that evening on State Route 661, just south of Mount Vernon. She was 31 years old.
Two of her four children and Levi were in the car with her that day. All three survived, Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville said, but the children suffered “major injuries.”
The other driver survived as well. Vince G. Arthur, 36, of Mount Vernon, sustained “minor injuries,” according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He was accused of causing the collision, driving while intoxicated and crossing the center line near Airport Road in Miller Township.
Arthur was charged and later indicted by a Knox County grand jury on four felony charges related to the incident: one count of aggravated vehicular homicide (a second-degree felony) and three counts of aggravated vehicular assault (all third-degree felonies).
After initially pleading not guilty, Arthur reversed course May 18, pleading guilty to all four counts.
Arthur will be sentenced June 22 at 9 a.m. in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas. He faces two to 23 years in prison.
THE PLEA HEARING: The packed gallery in Knox County’s courthouse May 18 contained supporters from both sides.
Arthur sat at the defendant’s table with his hands clasped, a Bible in front of them. Tears welled in his eyes as Judge Richard Wetzel read him his rights.
His attorney, Justin Smith, of the Mount Vernon law firm Zelkowitz, Barry & Cullers, said Arthur served 85 days in the Knox County Jail following his arrest last August. He eventually bonded out and checked into the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dayton, where he received counseling services (Arthur confirmed to Wetzel that he is a military veteran).
Arthur has spent the remainder of his time post-arrest staying with his family, which lives in Mount Vernon (this is why his address in court filings has changed from the one in Rineyville, Kentucky, McConville said). Smith said Arthur has “been adamant about doing the right things,” including assisting in ongoing civil litigation related to the case.
Smith said Arthur has continued to receive counseling from the VA, and he’s also sought out guidance from a local church pastor. He has been required to wear an ankle monitor and make weekly contact with his probation officer since his release from jail last year.
Both Smith and McConville asked Wetzel to continue these bond terms until sentencing, and Wetzel obliged.
Arthur pleaded guilty May 18 to the initial charges in the case. McConville said the nine-month gap between his arrest date and the guilty plea had less to do with any negotiations and more to do with the size and scope of the criminal investigation.
“I don’t know if you saw the file I had with me, but the court file for this case is two to three inches thick. Plus you have all kinds of additional discovery – body camera footage, that kind of thing,” McConville said in an interview after the plea hearing.
“So it takes a long time for the defense counsel to get through all of that and decide whether or not they think there are triable issues in there and what ought to happen. There was also some reference made today during the plea hearing to the civil litigation that’s been going on during this – so that’s been going on in the background, and there’s been some back-and-forth as to how that’s going to play out.
“Big cases like this just take a long time to get resolved.”
MOVING FORWARD: Neither Smith nor McConville made a sentencing recommendation to Wetzel during the May 18 hearing.
That will likely occur on sentencing day, McConville said.
“This is what is called ‘pleading open,’ meaning it’s all going to be up to judge,” McConville said. “Each side is going to argue its case (for how much prison time Arthur should receive) on sentencing day, rather than us coming up with a joint recommendation to take to the judge.”
Arthur faces two to eight years in prison and a lifelong license suspension on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge. He faces one to five years in prison, a license suspension of three years to life, and a maximum fine of $10,000 on each of the three aggravated vehicular assault charges.
The aggravated vehicular homicide charge pertains to the victim who died as a result of the crash, while the three vehicular assault charges pertain to the three victims who were injured as a result of the crash.
“The aggravating factor is the allegation that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, and that was the proximate cause of death in the homicide and of serious physical injury in the assaults,” McConville said in an interview last August.
A restitution claim is also expected to be filed in the case, McConville told the court May 18.
Levi O’Rourke said in court that day that he hopes Arthur’s case will serve as a warning for those who may consider driving while intoxicated in the future.
“It’s up to us all to set an example (with this case),” O’Rourke, 34, told the court. “We need to stop the easy sentencing for crimes with victims. … Because we were all victims here.”
O’Rourke recalled the day of the collision. He described it as a “beautiful day” – the sun was shining and Samantha had just picked Levi up from work. Two of her children sat in the backseat.
“We shared smiles and laughs as we drove down the road,” he recalled.
Samantha was on the verge of taking the next step in her career, Levi said. The family was looking forward to sharing a life together. Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
“We had all that taken away from us. …” Levi told the court. “Now, we can only dream.”
O’Rourke told Arthur that “you also stopped your life and your goals that day.” He asked Wetzel to consider the collision’s impact during sentencing.
“If we don’t show why not to drink and drive,” O’Rourke said, “our beautiful community will have to do this all over again.”
