Photo courtesy of the Rhone family
Steven Rhone Jr. was hit and killed by a drunk driver on June 2.\

Legal proceedings can sometimes help to bring closure to tragic incidents, but more importantly, they can signal the beginning of the healing process.

Though they continue to grieve and realize that the scars will never completely disappear, the family and friends of Steven Rhone Jr. feel that they can now move forward. The four individuals responsible for Rhone’s senseless hit and run death have been given the maximum sentences allowed under state law for their crimes.

Rhone was killed in the early morning hours of June 2, 2007, while walking with friends at the edge of Western Washington University’s campus. The 19-year-old Redmond resident was an Inglemoor High School graduate, who had planned to attend WWU this fall. Those who knew the well-liked teen, describe him as a loyal friend, a caring and protective brother over his sister Samantha, and a young man with an especially big heart and delightful sense of humor.

Rhone was on the brink of adulthood with a future that was bright with possibilities when his life was tragically cut short that fateful June morning. A drunken driver, Damian Scott Mackay, 22, struck him at the crosswalk of Indian and High Streets in Bellingham and then left him to die. Mackay, along with his girlfriend Amanda Littrell, his uncle, Chad Abbot, and another friend, Amber Cooper, were involved in the incident and subsequent attempts to cover up the damage to Mackay’s car after the collision.

All four had been drinking heavily at downtown bars prior to the collision. They each pleaded guilty for their actions. At a tearful hearing that included testimony from the Rhone family and statements of remorse from the defendants, presiding Judge Ira Uhrig imposed the maximum sentences permissible under state sentencing guidelines.

Prior to the proceedings, Uhrig had received over 80 letters from the victim’s family and friends, urging maximum sentences. He told those assembled that this was the most number of letters he had ever gotten in regards to any one case and that he felt compelled to read each one in order to honor Rhone’s memory.

The judge chastised the group for their reckless and irresponsible behavior both during that night and the hours after the crash and called the defendants’ apologies “hollow and shabby.”

Mackay, the driver, was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison for vehicular homicide and felony hit and run.

For rendering criminal assistance in helping with the cover up after the collision, Littrell and Cooper each received five months in Whatcom County Jail, while Abbot got six months.

Though Judge Uhrig gave Mackay the most prison time allowed by state sentencing guidelines, Rhone’s parents, Sandra and Steven, feel the sentences were inadequate.

“The system needs to be changed,” says Sandra. “My son is dead. And it is hard for me to understand how the penalties are different when killing someone with a gun or with a car. Under certain conditions, both are lethal objects. It saddens me that it takes a tragedy such as this to make everyone pay attention and reflect on the current laws and their inadequacies. Stricter punishments are a must for drunken drivers. If you drink, don’t drive. It is a simple concept that’s within our control.”

As they continue to strive to come to grips with their devastating loss, Rhone’s friends and family take comfort in knowing that although Steven is physically not present among them, his spirit, legacy and memory will live in their hearts forever. In his memory, a DECA scholarship has been created.

Donations can be made to

Steven Anthony Rhone, Jr. DECA Scholarship Fund
Inglemoor High School
Attn: Mr. Dennis Rockwood
15500 Simonds Rd. NE
Kenmore, WA 98028-4430