This is Jesean Benson.

He was 18.
He was preparing to go to Central State University in Ohio on a full scholarship to study criminal justice.
In fact he was just days away from leaving.
He wanted to be a probation officer.

But now that is never going to happen.
Jesean was just killed by a drunk driver.
It happened on Interstate 880 in Oakland.

What makes this story even more disgusting is that the suspected driver has ALREADY been convicted of drunk driving THREE times in the past ten years.
He was also driving on a suspended license.

Jesean’s mom says:
"He took my son's whole future.
He took everything from us and I'm mad.
I'm hurt.
You hear about these stories on the news.
I prayed for so many families.
I never thought I'd be here going through this right now."

Drunk drivers make me sick.
I remember going on a ride along with a Berkeley police officer.
I asked him what he would do if he pulled over his neighbor for drunk driving.

I thought he'd say that he would give him a ride home.
Boy was I wrong.

He said:
“I’d give him a ticket and take him to jail.
I have ZERO tolerance.”

I asked him why.
He said:
“If you pulled an 18 year old girl from a car that’s been hit by a drunk driver and then watched her die right in front of you, you would have zero tolerance as well.”

He’s right.
I totally get it.

Unfortunately my guess is that the guy who killed Jesean Benson will probably only serve a short time in prison.
That's just the way it is.

In the meantime, Jesean’s family will miss him for the rest of their lives.
They'll constantly be left wondering what he would be like.
They'll have to wonder who he would have married.
How many kids he would have had.
What he would have been like as a dad.

As I said:
Drunk drivers make me sick.


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