MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The video above previously aired on Nov. 28, 2022.
A Maple Grove man was sentenced to less than four years in prison for causing the death of a U of M researcher who dreamed of becoming a doctor.
Kenneth Spencer apologized Thursday in Hennepin County District Court before he was sentenced to 42 months (3 and 1/2 years) in the fatal crash that killed 24-year-old Ebony Miller in November of 2022. In March, Spencer entered a guilty plea in the case, admitting he was drunk and driving 75 in a 30 mph zone when he ran a red light and struck Miller's vehicle.
When given the opportunity to speak in court, the 25-year-old Spencer told Miller's family "he wishes he could trade places" with her. "There's no words I can say that can change what I did or bring Ms. Miller back," he added.
While saying he thought the sentence was too light, Ebony's father did appreciate Spencer's contrition. "I’m happy he took responsibility, that’s being a man," Kermit Miller told KARE 11's Charmaine Nero. "It’s tragic. I don’t applaud him for what he did, I applaud him for taking responsibility.”
Of the 42-month sentence, Spencer will serve 28 months followed by 14 months of supervised release.
A criminal complaint filed against him alleged Spencer smoked marijuana before the crash, and his blood alcohol concentration was nearly twice the legal limit to drive in Minnesota.
Prosecutors say Spencer's driving privileges were revoked at the time of the collision, and that he had a prior loss of his license for driving impaired in 2021.
Ebony Miller came to Minnesota from her birthplace in the Bahamas and was working as a researcher at the U at the time of the fatal crash near the intersection of 10th Avenue Southeast and University Avenue.
"She was coming home from her second job when she was struck and killed," Kermit Miller told KARE 11 shortly after his daughter's death. "My world collapsed. My child... I know that she was so careful, such a careful driver, and it broke me."
"I was so proud of her," Miller said. "We come from a small island nation and she had to overcome so many obstacles just to get into the U.S."
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