July 19, 2012
The mother of an FSU student killed by a drunk driver has just been awarded $20 million dollars.
Matthew Beard was killed on I-95 back in December 2006. A drunk driver going more than 70 miles an hour slammed into the back of his car.
July 19, 2012 a jury in West Palm Beach awarded Beard's mother 20 million dollars in a wrongful death suit she filed against that drunk driver.
Says Beard's mother: "I wanted to send a message out to everybody that if you choose to drink and drive and you do not come to think about the fact that you could possibly and likely kill and injure somebody ... that you could lose everything you have and you know, I lost everything when I lost my child and nothing will bring him back. I don't care if someone gave me a trillion dollars, but I needed something to get to people."
The drunk driver arrested in Matthew Beard's death is still serving a 12 year prison sentence. The 20 million dollar judgment is one of the biggest awards ever in a drunk driving case in Palm Beach County.
