Driver sentenced after facing victims’ family

LACONIA — Family members of a man and toddler who suffered traumatic injuries in a 2017 car crashed watched and offered tearful statements Thursday as a Superior Court judge sentenced the driver at fault to a minimum of five years in prison with a 20-year suspended sentence hanging over his head once he’s released.

Judge Larry Smukler imposed the sentence on James Willingham, 32, of 32 Pine St., #1, in Laconia. Willingham was the driver of a van which crossed the centerline on Route 11 in Gilford and crashed into a sedan carrying a family of four.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated driving under the influence, and three counts of second-degree assault. Under the terms of a negotiated plea, Willingham was sentenced to a 3½- to seven year sentence on the aggravated DWI charge, and a consecutive one- to six-year sentence, with six months suspended if he completes an intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. On two other second-degree assault charges, he received two consecutive 3½- to seven-year sentences, with each sentence suspended for 10 years, beginning when he leaves prison.

“There can be no justice given the outcome of the accident,” Smukler said after the sentences had been imposed. “But under the totality of the circumstances (including the defendant’s limited criminal record), this is a reasonable result in this case.”

In addition to the time-committed and suspended sentences, Willingham was also ordered to pay $176,535.48 in restitution and an additional $4,554 to the state’s Victims Compensation Program. Willingham’s attorney, Caroline Smith, told the court that her client would be unable to start making restitution under he is released from prison and goes back to work.

On Jan. 2, 2017, Willingham was driving on Route 11 near the intersection with Lockes Hill Road, when his van veered into the oncoming lane and crashed virtually head-on into a car being driven by Brent Stanger, who suffered catastrophic injuries that have left him in a minimally conscious state. Also injured were 2½-year-old Ariana Stranger, who suffered an open-fracture of her skull and massive brain injuries. Sarah Kunst, Brent Stranger’s girlfriend and Ariana’s mother, suffered multiple arm fractures. A second child in the car was unharmed.

During the one-hour-and-15-minute hearing in Belknap Superior Court, Assistant Belknap County Attorney Adam Woods told the court that Willingham’s vehicle had a false inspection sticker, would not have passed inspection and had faulty brakes. He also said the defendant’s blood showed he had methamphetamines and marijuana in his system.

Standing at a lectern in the courtroom, Sarah Kunst told the judge that in the moments after the crash, Willingham blamed them for the collision and refused to do anything to help the injured victims. She said that because of Willingham’s actions that night her and Brent’s children will never really be able to get to know their father, who is unable to communicate because because of his injuries.

Lisa Fortin, Brent Stranger’s mother, wearing a T-shirt with a silk-screened picture of her son in a cervical collar on the front, and “Car Crashes Change Lives” emblazoned on the back, told of the horror of hearing the interrupted cell phone call Kunst made from the accident scene. She also described the anxious days she spent at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center while her son and granddaughter underwent emergency surgery; the days they were comatose; and the long periods of arduous physical therapy which followed.

“He’s fighting a war without a weapon in his hand,” Fortin said, choking back her tears. But she said Willingham was using a “7,000 pound weapon” the night of the crash. “He can’t come home,” she said of her son. “He’s not safe to come home,” because he cannot communicate. “He’s locked inside of himself,” the mother said.

As members of the Brent Stranger’s family spoke, Willingham made no eye contact with the victims. He sat motionless at the defense table, staring downward. He did not address the court, but his attorney said, “This day is a tragedy, and it has eaten him to the core.” She said her client truly understood the pain he had caused the victims.

In addressing the judge, Woods, the assistant county attorney, said Willingham’s sentence was “significant time for the significant damage he had done.”