She was called a "tough cookie" but with
a "heart of gold" and a penchant for the color purple.
Those were some of the descriptions
colleagues gave of Lori Donohue Friday at Dorian Drake
International's company luncheon at the Renaissance
Westchester Hotel where an employee service award in her
name was presented to a co-worker and close friend.
Donohue, 37, worked for the
Harrison-based export management company for 17 years before
she was struck and killed last June, along with her
8-year-old daughter, Kayla, by a drunken driver who was in
the country illegally . Mother and daughter were walking out
of the little girl's dance class in Brewster.
"She was tough in a strong way. She was
always willing to do the tough jobs and not afraid to tell
you what she thought," said group manager Ed Pysa, who
reminisced about her one day walking into his office and
asking him "What's wrong? You look miserable."
"Ultimately, she wanted you to be happy,"
he said. "She wanted to know what was wrong so that she
could find a way to make you happy."
Dorian Drake established the annual "Lori
J. Donohue Circle of Excellence Award," company President Ed
Dorian, Jr., said, to keep her memory and spirit alive and
to commemorate her strong work ethic and team spirit. The
Southeast mother of two worked as an inside sales manager
for the company's industrial and environmental group.
"She was a great teammate. She was always
there for you," said Dorian Jr. "She had a commitment to
giving great service."
The award was presented to corporate
Controller Robin Wallace, who, in addition to working with
Donohue, shared lunch with her every work day and was her
bowling partner, she said. A tearful Wallace said she was so
honored to receive the award.
"Lori would always want us to remember
the good times and to never be afraid to wear purple,"
Wallace said. "Lori is a loving, honest, hardworking person.
I could stand up here all day talking about Lori because I
loved her."
Donohue's parents, John and Anita Luhrs,
attended the banquet, visibly moved by the support. Earlier,
Dorian Jr. mentioned that the company, through staff
contributions and other donations, had raised close to
$40,000 for Donohue's 5-year-old son, Christopher's college
fund.
"It's a special honor. Just to see the
outpouring of love you had for our daughter and Bob's wife
is absolutely amazing," John Luhrs said. "I look up at that
award and see Lori's picture and it warms my heart. Robin, I
think you're very deserving of that award."
On Jan. 13, Luhrs, 70, of Bethel, Conn.,
gave a victim impact statement at the sentencing of his
daughter's killer, Conses Garcia-Zacarias, saying "our
hearts are absolutely broken — no, our hearts have been
ripped out." Garcia-Zacarias, who was convicted on two
counts of vehicular homicide, received the maximum sentence
of 8 1/3 to 25 years in state prison.
Robinanne Wallace, the controller for
Dorian Drake International in Harrison, poses with John and
Anita Luhrs, the parents of Lori Donohue, after receiving an
award in her name, during a meeting and luncheon at the
Renaissance Westchester Hotel, Jan. 22, 2010. Donohue, who
worked at the company was killed in June 2009. ( Mark
Vergari / The Journal News )
John Luhrs, the father of Lori Donohue,
speaks during a luncheon for Dorian Drake International in
Harrison, at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel, Jan. 22,
2010. Luhrs daughter Lori Donohue, who worked at the company
was killed in June 2009. ( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )
( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )
( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )
( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )
Robinanne Wallace, the controller for Dorian Drake International in
Harrison, gets emotional as she speaks about her friend and colleague
Lori Donohue, after receiving an award in her name, during a meeting and
luncheon at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel, Jan. 22, 2010. Donohue,
who worked at the company was killed in June 2009. ( Mark Vergari / The
Journal News )
Anita and John Luhrs, the parents of Lori Donohue, listen as Robinanne
Wallace, the controller for Dorian Drake International in Harrison
speaks, after receiving an award in Lori's name, during a meeting and
luncheon at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel, Jan. 22, 2010. Donohue,
who worked at the company was killed in June 2009. ( Mark Vergari / The
Journal News )
( Mark Vergari / The Journal News )
January 13, 2010
Drunk driver gets maximum sentence in
Brewster mother/daughter fatal
CARMEL — An illegal immigrant who had no license and
a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he plowed into
and killed a Southeast mother and daughter received the maximum sentence
of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison today.
Conses Garcia-Zacarias, 35, who
has been held at the Putnam County jail since the June 8 fatalities,
pleaded guilty in November to two counts of vehicular homicide in the
deaths of Lori Donohue, 37, and her 8-year-old daughter, Kayla. The
second-grader and her mother were walking out of the little girl's dance
class at Seven Stars School of Performing Arts in Brewster when Garcia-Zacarias
mowed them down with a pickup truck.
The act instantly took away half of the Donohue family,
leaving Robert Donohue and his 5-year-old son, Christopher, grieving for
the wife and mother, sister and daughter they lost.
"Explaining to my 5-year-old son that he can never hug
or kiss his mother and sister was the most difficult thing I've ever
done," Donohue told the court today.
Friends and family members filled four of the six rows
in the Putnam County Courthouse. Lori Donohue's father, John Luhrs, 70,
of Bethel, Conn. placed photos of his daughter and granddaughter on the
prosecutor's table, looked up at Putnam County Court Judge James Rooney
before sitting down and saying, "Your honor: A parent's worse
nightmare."
Lori Donohue grew up in Yonkers and rose through the
ranks at Dorian Drake International Inc. in Harrison where she worked as
a sales manager. Kayla attended John F. Kennedy Elementary School,
played softball and swam. She was a Girl Scout and had been collecting
cookies to send to the troops in Iraq when she was killed.
Kayla Donohue was pronounced dead at the scene while
Lori Donohue was flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla where
she died.
Their deaths saddened and outraged the community and
refocused an ongoing debate about illegal immigration, drinking and
driving and the hiring of undocumented workers. Garcia-Zacarias worked
on horse farms in Florida and New York and the F-350 Ford pickup truck
he was driving that night was registered to Valerie Renihan, a horse
trainer who also leased the house on Tonetta Lake Road in Southeast
where Garcia-Zacarias and several other men were living.
On June 8, police say Garcia-Zacarias sped down the
wrong side of Brewster's Main Street around 6:30 p.m. and barrelled
through a T-shaped intersection at routes 6 and 22. The truck crossed
the narrow parking area dividing the road from the dance school building
and ran over Lori and Kayla Donohue as other horrified parents, children
and instructors stood nearby.
Through an interpreter, Garcia-Zacarias expressed
remorse today and talked about how his actions have hurt his own family.
"I apologize to the family and I ask forgiveness. It
was not my intention and it's something that could happen to any of us,"
he said. "I ask them to forgive me. I have my two daughters over there
who are also suffering because of this."
Garcia-Zacarias will serve his sentences on the two
counts of vehicular homicide concurrently, or at the same time, as
stipulated by the law, Rooney said today.
"Do not look to me for forgiveness ," Rooney told him
in imposing the maximum. "God may grant you mercy, Mr. Zacarias, but
this court will not."
Garcia-Zacarias faces deportation to his native
Guatemala after serving his time in prison.
Photos of Lori and Kayla Donohue sit on a table during the sentencing
for Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County Courthouse in Carmel
Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal News )
Lori Donohues father John Luhrs speaks outside the courthouse, after the
sentencing for Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County Courthouse
in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal News )
Family and friends of Lori and Kayla Donohue pack the courtroom during
the sentencing for Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County
Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal
News )
Conses Garcia-Zacarias is led away by a sheriff deputy, after being
sentenced by Judge James Rooney in the death of Lori and Kayla Donohue,
at the Putnam County Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra
Jr. / The Journal News )
Family and friends of Lori and Kayla Donohue pack the courtroom during
the sentencing for Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County
Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal
News )
Bob Donohue reads a Victim Impact Statement, as photos of his
wife and daughter sit in front of him, during the sentencing for
Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County Courthouse in
Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. (Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal News)
Conses Garcia-Zacarias listens as Judge James Rooney
sentences him in the death of Lori and Kayla Donohue, at the
Putnam County Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. (Frank Becerra
Jr./The Journal News)
From left, Conses Garcia-Zacarias speaks through his interpreter Marta
Fagundo, during his sentencing in the death of Lori and Kayla Donohue,
at the Putnam County Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra
Jr. / The Journal News )
Lori Donohues father John Luhrs reads a Victim Impact Statement, during
the sentencing for Conses Garcia-Zacarias, at the Putnam County
Courthouse in Carmel Jan. 13, 2010. ( Frank Becerra Jr. / The Journal
News )
The national effort to reduce death and injuries
from drunken driving has received a major boost from New York State.
Gov. David Paterson signed a law that made New York among the first
states to make it a felony to drive while intoxicated with a child
in the vehicle. The new law also made New York one of a dozen states
to require all convicted drunken drivers to use an ignition
interlock device that prevents them from driving their cars if they
are drunk.
The successful push for
harsher drunken-driving penalties followed two highly publicized
crashes in which children were killed while traveling with adults
who had been drinking. In July, a Long Island woman driving the
wrong way on Westchester’s Taconic State Parkway killed her
2-year-old daughter and three young nieces, in addition to the three
men in the oncoming vehicle. The driver, who also died, had a blood
alcohol content more than double the legal limit, and had marijuana
in her system.
Last month, an 11-year-old girl, Leandra Rosado,
was killed after the mother of one of her friends flipped her car on
the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan while she was, authorities
said, intoxicated. The new law is named Leandra’s Law and owes much
to the intense lobbying campaign waged by her grieving father, Lenny
Rosado.
With his help, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and
other supporters of the bill were able to overcome initial
resistance from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who sought to water
down the bill by making drunken driving with a child in the car a
felony only for drivers with a blood alcohol level far above the
legal limit.
Under the new measure, drivers convicted of being
drunk while carrying passengers 15 years or younger could face up to
four years in prison.
New York’s embrace of interlocks for everyone
convicted of drunken driving follows by just a month California’s
enactment of a similarly strict interlock pilot program. It is smart
public policy.
Most people convicted of driving under the
influence continue to drive even after their licenses are suspended.
A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a
nonprofit group financed by auto insurers, found that repeat drunken
driving offenses dropped 65 percent among those with interlock
devices.
Beyond reducing alcohol-related crashes in New
York, Albany’s toughening of penalties for drunken driving should
prompt other states to follow suit.
