No jail time for Holman

DOWNTOWN TOLEDO - Toledo Municipal Court Judge Michael Goulding sentenced Theresa Holman Thursday to five years community control, suspended her drivers license for two years and fined her $1,500 in the October 2008 double fatal accident on the Anthony Wayne Trail.

The two children who were killed in the Oct. 20, 2008 six-vehicle wreck near the entrance of the Toledo Zoo were two boys, Zyeri White, 6, and Devine Chatman, 11. Seven other motorists were injured, including Holman.

Zyeri was the nephew of Devine according to family members. They were passengers along with Quaja Butler, 8, inside a car driven by Quavonne Porter, 25.

Quavonne was driving her children, Zyeri and Quaja, along with her brother Devine, to Harvard Elementary on Glendale Avenue and the Anthony Wayne Trail, about a mile away.

A Lucas County Grand Jury indicted Holman, who is now 58, with two counts of vehicular manslaughter, both second-degree misdemeanors. She had pleaded no contest in May to two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Holman could have faced up to six months in in jail at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, according to court records, but Judge Goulding suspended the sentence.

Before Holman was sentenced, the family of Zyeri and Devine, made statements in front of the court in a hope to provide closure.

"I lost two little guys that meant a lot to me and there's nothing in this world that could change or bring them back," said Eric White, Zyeri's father.

Tears rolled down Holman's face as she listened to Eric White and Shawanda Chatman's statements.

"He was a loving person he will be missed," Chatman said.

"I'll never get to see them go to high school," Eric said. "I'll never get to see them accomplish anything."

Holman, who was traveling in-bound on the Anthony Wayne Trail just past the zoo, was found guilty of two counts of vehicular manslaughter after Toledo police reports stated she tried to avoid an accident, swerved, and lost control of her car and went over the median before slamming into outbound traffic.

Her move caused a chain reaction accident which killed Zyeri and Devine.

"I know the suffering she is enduring as a result of this," said Matt Fetch, Eric White's attorney. "It doesn't compare to suffering that the families of these two minor children are going through."

Eric White forgave Holman and said he was satisfied with the sentenced handed down by Judge Goulding.

"He wasn't looking to have Miss Holman to go to jail," fetch said. "He knows it's a terrible tragedy for everyone involved."

A civil suit between Holman and the family is pending.

(FOX Toledo's Michelle Zepeda contributed to this report)