But that’s exactly what Ron and Mary Philpot did after their son, Gregory Philpot, of Middletown, who was riding his motorcycle, was struck and killed by a drunk driver on Oct. 19, 2014 on Tytus Avenue.
A Butler County jury deliberated for only 25 minutes Friday morning before finding George Pickett, 39, of Middletown, guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence and operating a vehicle left of center. Pickett, who faces two to eight years in prison, will be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 17 in Butler County Common Pleas Court. When the verdict was read, Pickett turned his head away from Judge Charles Pater and the jury and stared out of a courtroom window.
Pickett’s long hair was cut for the trial, giving him a much different appearance than his police mug shot.
“We were hoping for a guilty verdict very much,” Ron Philpot said, surrounded by his family and friends outside the courtroom. “If he wasn’t, life would have been hell for us from here on if he didn’t pay for what he did. It was a big relief.”
Ironically, Ron Philpot said, it was his son who promised him to never ride his motorcycle if he was drunk. He said his son took his motorcycle home if he planned to drink beer while shooting pool.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Greg Stephens said he was satisfied because “the right decision” was made for the family.
Tamara Sack, Pickett’s defense attorney, did not comment after the proceeding.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors maintained Pickett’s Ford Explorer was traveling west on Tytus Avenue just after 10 p.m. Oct. 19 when the sport-utility vehicle traveled three to four feet into the eastbound lane, striking Philpot’s Harley Davidson motorcycle. Philpot was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene, while Pickett’s vehicle stopped about 100 feet away in a parking lot.
On Friday, Pickett admitted to drinking beer the night of the accident, saying he had four 24-ounce beers, Stephens said. A breath test performed at the Middletown City Jail the night of the accident showed Pickett had an alcohol level of .219, more than twice the legal driving limit of .08.
The defense contended it was Philpot, not Pickett, whose vehicle crossed left of center. But Stephens said the accident reconstruction team from the Ohio State Highway Patrol proved it was Pickett who drifted over into the motorcyclist’s lane.
But Sack asked the jury to keep an open mind, noting the state’s evidence was all deduced from the highway patrol’s investigation.
“There were no witnesses to the accident,” she said.
Since his son’s death, the Philpot family has marked Thanksgiving and Christmas without him. Every holiday is difficult, said Ron Philpot. He said his family won’t have permanent closure “until we are all together again.”
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