Public Comments

JUSTICE FOR BAYLEA! We need stricter punishment!

this bill would hopefully raise awareness to dui causing death and duis in general.

I believe the fines should be doubled for DUI causing death to deter drivers from driving under the influence.

Baylee had her whole life ahead of her,  but some one impaired on drugs and alcohol took that away from her and her family! this law could very well save someone else loved on from getting killed by an impaired driver!!  

I 100% stand behind and for Baylee’s Law. DUI’s, child molestors, and rapist all deserve longer jail sentences. Drinking and having fun for a few hours should not cost someone else their life. If a person is killed and taken from this world like poor Baylee, they should get the max of 30 years.

I agree with this bill

She was a young lady just starting her life. She was just married and wanted to start a family. She as an asset to her community. Her life was cut short by an impaired driver. The law needs to be more harsh for impaired drivers causing death.

I agree with this bill because a lot of people drink and drive and don’t get any consequences for their actions and keep doing it over and over and end up killing people or themselves.

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I firmly believe that Baylea’s Law must be passed. Baylea’s life was stolen by a drunk driver—an entirely preventable choice that left a family and community forever changed. No sentence of 3 to 15 years can ever equal the value of a life lost, nor does it truly reflect the lifelong pain imposed on loved ones who are forced to live without their child, sibling, or friend. Drunk driving is not an accident—it is a decision. When someone chooses to get behind the wheel while impaired, knowing the risk, and that choice results in the death of another human being, the consequences must be stronger and more meaningful. Baylea’s Law represents accountability, justice, and the recognition that a life taken deserves more than a sentence that minimizes the harm done. Passing Baylea’s Law has the power to save lives. It sends a clear message that our society will no longer treat fatal drunk driving as a lesser crime. It can deter reckless decisions, bring a stronger sense of justice to grieving families, and help prevent other parents from ever experiencing the unimaginable pain of losing a child the way Baylea’s family did. Baylea mattered. Her life mattered. And passing this law ensures her legacy becomes one of change, protection, and hope—so that fewer lives are stolen and fewer families are left broken by choices that should never be made

This should absolutely be put into effect because there is people living their lives without their loved ones all because of someone deciding to drink and drive. Three years is just not enough and most of the time people don’t even get that. I am sure that if somebody killed your loved one while drinking and driving, you would not want to see them walking around freely after just three short years!

Please pass Baylea’s law. Stronger penalties may cause individuals to plan ahead when drinking and get a designated driver or at least think twice before getting behind the wheel intoxicated.  Increased penalties may also help the victims families to feel that justice has been served and begin to heal from the trauma caused by the drunk/impaired driver. You must remember this: the victim’s family has been served a life sentence. The impaired driver deserves more than a measly 3 years.

I am fully in support of Baylea’s Law.

Baylea was my cousin she did not deserve what happened to her. Pass this bill to help protect others! JUSTICE FOR BAYLEA

Baylea was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Regardless of the outcome, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is always intentional. An intoxicated person never has to get behind the wheel; they choose to do so. In my opinion, even this new proposed maximum sentence is still not enough, especially when a life is lost.  Please consider this proposition in honor of Baylea.

I vote YES for this bill

I agree with the bill as it is stated.

The law should be 30 years max. If not more. People need real consequences for their actions and not a slap on the wrist. Do better West Virginia. Pass this law.

I stand with this bill

Baylea was an important person in the lives of many people and she should be here living her life. People who do not think twice about driving under the influence need to be given stiffer penalties so we can avert losses like our sweet Baylea

This may help save more people if there are more consequences.

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Such a selfish act should be taken more seriously to prevent future deaths.

I didn’t personally know Baylea, but I KNOW that she mattered and still matters. Every person who has died at the hands of an impaired driver, mattered. A maximum sentence of 15 years, for the loss of life, is an injustice and is unacceptable. Every life matters. That is why I’m signing. For those who I know and those who I don’t.

This bill absolutely needs to be passed to protect the people who choose not to drive impaired yet suffer the consequences in some cases and hopefully cut down on the rates of those who do choose to drive while impaired.

I totally support this bill as we need much stiffer penalties for those who choose to drive under the influence.

Joshua Nichols I agree with this bill

I support this bill to double the sentence in DUI resulting in death.

I believe if you take a life you should spend the rest of yours in jail away from your family and friends

I totally agree with this,……do the crime….serve the time….a beautiful soul is gone because of a bad decision……JUSTICE FOR BAYLEA

Please pass this bill hopefully it will make people think a little more before being careless. We have to take a stand for those that have already lost their lives due to drunk drivers and hopefully save innocent lives in the future.

This law is highly needed.

Please make this change, hopefully it will stop this from happening anymore.

This needs put into action IMMEDIATELY

Three to fifteen years for DUI causing death is not long enough. DUI are 100 percent preventable. There is no “accidents” when it comes to DUI crimes.

Destiny Lester while driving impaired took the life of Baylea Bower. Baylea was loved by all that knew her & is incredibly missed. Please change the minimum sentences!

I support Baylea’s Law.

Passing this law should help save some lives, too many people are killed by drunk drivers every year.

Please pass this bill this was a very well known and loved young lady that lost her life way to soon we all are heart broken. Something needs to be done with the underage drinking an the drugs in our state.  Just to think if this could have been your child.  

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I strongly encourage this bill be passed in hopes it will  makes individuals think twice about driving under the influence!

A minimum of 3 years is a slap to the face for the family and friends of loved ones that are taken from them due to someone's decision to drive under the influence. Even 6 years isn't long enough but it is progress.

I FULLY support changing bill 4712. To be under the influence of anything that impairs your ability to drive, yet you still decide to and someone else and their families lives are changed forever, you should be held accountable to the highest degree of punishment.

To our Legislators, It’s sad that it took someone’s daughter, someone’s wife, someone’s sister and someone’s friend to bring something like this law to the table. Our system is supposed to work for us and help us in making things safer for ourselves and for our families. Passing this law would be the perfect step in the right direction to help keep impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel. It may not always stop them, but it will at least make them think twice. It shouldn’t be so easy to commit murder from a conscience choice to drive under the influence and then receive little to no punishment for the crime. You should ask yourself how you would feel if it was your daughter, your wife, your sister or your friend. If that were the case, I bet your own signature would be beside ours. We elect you to hear us and to help us in moments like this. We show up for you and it’s time you do your part and show up for us. Show up for Baylea and for her family and pray that it’s never you trying to pass a law for your daughter.

I hope this pass.

I personally think more thinks like this should be taken seriously, and have more consequences. Including dui’s with babies in the car etc.

Bayleas Law needs to pass!  The current sentence is not fair to the families destroyed by the childish choice of drunk driving.

Hopefully longer sentencing and higher fines will make others reconsider before getting behind the wheel under the influence.

I agree with the bill. Nobody should ever drink and drive, it’s very dangerous. Someone’s always dying from drunk drivers.

This law needs to be passed! It might save someone else’s life since it was unable to save Baylea’s. It might help people reconsider getting behind the wheel while impaired.

I think it should be passed cause taking a life for a small decision. Make plans to stay where u are or sober up before u leave.

Drunk drivers need more years

Please pass this bill.

This bill should be passed because if you knowingly drive impaired, you are knowingly risking someone’s WHOLE LIFE. Someone loses a whole family member/spouse/child/etc. They will never see them again due to a choice that you made.

I strongly support House Bill 4712. Strengthening penalties for DUI offenses that result in death is a necessary step to promote accountability and deterrence. Impaired driving is a choice, and the consequences should reflect the irreversible harm caused to victims and their families. I support House Bill 4712 in honor of Baylea and her family. No family should suffer a preventable loss due to impaired driving. I urge the Judiciary Committee to advance this bill.

Absolutely!

As someone who has zero tolerance for drunk/impaired driving, I fully support increasing the consequences for doing so, if anything as a deterrent to future potential offenders.

My brother was killed by someone that had been drinking, but alcohol didn't show at time of accident

Baylea was RUDE AND MEAN to me all through out elementary middle and high school she doesn’t need her own special bill all because she decided she needed to drive at a specific time!

Drunk driving should have a greater punishment. Putting lives at risk due to selfish behavior is avoidable. No one should be unjust due to the choices of another committing a crime.

Something that should’ve been changed long ago, we shouldn’t have to lose innocent people because others make selfish decisions. Baylea should be here, Baylea should be living her life with her friends and family.

Dui is a severely under punished crime and should have higher standards of punishment for the offenders to protect out communities

I fully support this.

The law should be passed. These kinds of crimes should not go without a fitting punishment. This was my wife’s cousins wife. Our little girl adored Baylea, the whole family did. Don’t let her death be in vain.

Taking a life from behind the wheel while impaired is still taking a life!!   There has to be more accountability for this action or it will never end!!  The current minimum and maximum sentence is a joke.  This state really needs to give impaired drivers something to think about, something for them to lose if they choose to drive when they shouldn’t!

To whom it may concern: Baylea was a vibrant young woman who was also a daughter, sister, Aunt, wife, friend, and business owner. Her life was stolen from those who love her and the community that she loved by someone who chose to drive intoxicated. The maximum sentence that will be served is 15 years. This person is still able to see their family and enjoy holidays. Baylea had that stolen from her. Never again will this happen. Fifteen years, the maximum sentence, is not long enough for those who make this choice. The sentence needs to be extended. If harsher penalties are implemented and enforced drivers will be less likely to drive while intoxicated. Any choice that involves a death deserves a harsh penalty. Please take this into consideration so that maybe another family won't have to feel the pain that the Craig & Bower families and friends of Baylea do at this time. On February 12, the date of the sentencing of Destiny Lester, the one who caused Baylea's death, think about what if that were my child I buried? Would I want the person that caused her death out in as little as 3 years? Or at most 15? I ask that you vote in support of this bill.   Thank you, Kelli Bell

Lives are devastated by the negligent users of drugs and alcohol. The consequences for their behavior is often times negotiated behind the closed doors of our legal system while the families who've lost their loved ones are left to carry on. Trying to justify their age or ignorance with lesser time served solves nothing! Longer sentences would be a deterrent for many, one year of manditory drug rehabilitation prior to release would be a step in the right as well.

I fully support the passing of this bill. My own brother almost killed a mother and daughter when he was in his 20s and only seen the inside of a jail cell for a day, then only had to pay fines and take a dui class. He received multiple DUIs and the longest sentence he faced was 30 days on house arrest. My friend in high school lost her baby cousin to an intoxicated driver. He was barely 2 years old. He didnt even serve a year. This needs to change sooner than later. Operating a vehicle impaired and taking another life should hold the same consequences as premeditated murder. No one consumes alcohol or substances and gets behind the wheel not knowing it is dangerous and could hurt or kill someone. They do it without any regard to the possible consequences.

Losing my sister law to a drunk/high driver has been the most difficult and heartbreaking thing I've ever faced. Baylea deserved so much more to life than for hers to end this way, but she and every other victim of DUI deserve justice! This law would show West Virginia and surrounding states that we take this matter seriously. We need a change!

Please, take time to consider the fact that there are innocent lives being taken because somebody makes a careless choice to drive under the influence. Hopefully this law will get passed and cause others to pause and reconsider what the consequences might be.

The law needs changed to prevent someone else from loosing their life to a drunk driver

I fully support this bill. I do not think that drug charges deserve more time in prison than someone who carelessly takes another life by getting behind the wheel impaired. Maybe if we stop giving a slap on the wrist for DUI causing death we could show society that it’s not right. ITS NOT OKAY TO KILL SOMEONES MOM, DAD, SON, DAUGHTER, AUNT, UNLCE, BROTHER, SISTER, COUSIN. LOVED ONE.

This should already be a law. I have a four year old and a two year old, I drive the same road 5 days a week that Baylea was on when she was killed. That could have been me, that could have been my children, that could’ve been you, that could’ve been your children. Why is it that if their life was cut short due to a selfish decision, the person who caused that death gets a chance to walk free? Destany Lester has been walking free for 10 months. 10 months ago she killed Baylea, and she has been sitting at home living her life, while every single one of Baylea’s family are living in a nightmare. Why is the minimum sentence only 3 years, why is the maximum only 15, when the people who suffer the loss are sentenced to a lifetime of pain? It is not an accident to have a DUI resulting in death, it is a chain of bad choices. The choice to drink, the choice to get behind the wheel, the choice to push the gas peddle. These are all choices you make, while knowing the consequences could mean your death, or the death of another. The minimum should be more than 3 years, the maximum should be more than 15 years, especially when there is ample evidence a person has drank and drive more than once. People scream it was unintentional, but if you know the consequences and do it anyway, how is it not? Please, consider passing this law. For me, for my babies, for their babies to come, for you, for your family, and for every single person who will ever face this situation.

I don’t see why they shouldn’t push this bill through.

I believe that this bill should absolutely be passed.

Baylea

The loss of Baylea to a drunk driver is a heartbreaking reminder that impaired driving is not an accident—it is a preventable choice with irreversible consequences. No family or community should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one because existing laws failed to deter reckless behavior. Passing stronger legislation in Baylea’s name would honor her life by prioritizing accountability, strengthening penalties for impaired driving, and expanding prevention measures to protect innocent lives. This law would stand as a commitment that our community values safety, responsibility, and the right of every person to make it home alive.

She should still be here!  The sentencing for this type of murder is not enough.  People will not stop until there is true punishment.   Baylea’s husband should not be living in their brand new home alone.   Her parents should have never had to put her to rest.  This should have never happened and the one responsible should get double AT LEAST.   I believe this is a must, not just for this instance.  For every innocent life lost to a selfish person driving under the influence.  Completely avoidable.  In my opinion she should never be free again.  Her carelessness and inability to think about anyone but herself and the time she was having took a LIFE.   Imagine it were your child, sibling or parent.   Please make punishment more.  For the sake of every family that’s had to grieve the avoidable loss of a loved one.

Please pass this bill! As a provider I have seen too many families suffer the loss from people driving under the influence! There is not a big enough sentence to bring justice to these people but increasing the time is a start.

Justice for Baylea💙💙💙💙

Yes Baylea law

This law definitely needs passed to increase the minimum penalty for dui. When lives are taken, there should be a harsher sentence

Please pass this bill..stricter laws need to be passed to try to get control of the situation with drinking and driving and especially if there is a death

I vote yes

Please consider passing the following bill being presented. Keep our children safe and hold drunk drivers to the highest standards for the consequences of their actions.

This one was my high school cheer coach. Baylea was one of the best people and did not deserve any of what she got nor her AMAZING family! They deserve justice and finally lay all of this to rest for there sweet baby!

Hello! I’m writing you asking you to support Baylea’s law 4712! Baylea was like my sister! Our parents are best friends and I was there the day she was born. We quickly became the best of friends! She was also my daughter’s God Mother. Baylea was married in October and was planning to grow her family through IVF. She just moved into her new house and started a new business in Boone County. Her little coffee shop quickly became the heart of the town and a place young women and mothers could spend time. Baylea was very caring and loved everyone! She was killed by a drunk driver on April 20, 2025. My world stopped that day and I have been heart broken even since. I hope that you could support this bill and help keep Baylea’s memory alive. Thank you for your time! Britney Mundy (304)539-1921

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we need justice for bailey, i also think this is a very smart decision due to the fact that there is so much drunk driving and you never know the outcome at the end of the night.

My daughter is Baylea Nevada Craig Bower and she was killed by a drunk and cocaine impaired driver. My families lives were forever changed Easter Sunday April 20, 2025. The current laws are insulting to anyone that loses someone because of DUI  causing death. There needs to be changes, not for revenge but to make these drivers be held accountable for their decisions and actions. My family has received a life sentence while the girl that killed her has been sitting at her home awaiting arrest or sentencing. The current laws need changed so other families don’t have to deal with a loss so horrific. Please vote to have this law passed 💙

If this law has the potential to save 1 life, it’s worth it!! Pass Baylea’s law!!

West Virginia’s current sentencing structure for DUI causing death is out of step with many other states. Jurisdictions such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona authorize penalties of 20 to 30 years or more when intoxicated driving results in a fatality. Those statutes recognize that impaired driving is a voluntary act with foreseeable, catastrophic consequences. Under current WV law, a 15-year maximum often fails to reflect the severity of the harm or the permanent loss suffered by victims’ families. Often only 3-5 years is handed down in WV in these type cases. Baylea’s Law does not eliminate judicial discretion. It simply adjusts the statutory range to better match the seriousness of the offense and aligns West Virginia with widely accepted sentencing standards nationwide. Deterrence, proportional punishment, and public safety are legitimate legislative interests. Increasing penalties for DUI resulting in death directly serves those goals. This proposal is a measured response, not an extreme one, and deserves serious consideration. I support Baylea’s Law. Justin Clendenin

We absolutely need to pass this bill and put it into law. DUI causing death is 100% preventable and I truly believe that harsher sentences will make people second guess, before getting behind the wheel drunk, and will send a message.

Please pass this law so no other family has to go through this much heartache.