HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Family members of HCSO Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez were in court Friday morning to address the woman who killed him in a 2022 hit-and-run crash.
Jurors convicted Lavillia Spry of intoxication manslaughter this week and sentenced her to 43 years in prison.
Spry was drunk when she hit Gutierrez, who was working an off-duty job escorting an oversized load on the Beltway 8 feeder road near Tidwell in January 2022. Gutierrez was helping direct traffic and wasn't on his motorcycle when Spry drove around emergency vehicles and hit him. She left the scene but was later arrested.
As the verdict was read on Thursday, Spry broke down in the courtroom and apologized. She returned in an orange jail jumpsuit Friday and apologized to the Gutierrez family again. Spry said she sees Sgt. Gutierrez in her dreams and believes he would forgive her, calling the crash an accident.
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“Drunk driving is not an accident and killing somebody when you’re driving drunk is a predictable consequence – therefore, it could have been prevented," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
Then it was the victim's family's turn to speak. His son Alfredo was among three family members who read emotional impact statements.
“My dad was an amazing person – he was everything that we ask police officers to be – he was everything that we ask a father to be," Alfredo Gutierrez said. “My dad spent his entire life dedicated to keeping drunk drivers off the street, keeping families safe."
Gutierrez, a 45-year-old husband and father of three was a 20-year law enforcement veteran who, ironically, worked vehicular crimes involving DWIs.
At the time of his death, Gutierrez was picking up extra jobs to help pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding.
The sergeant spent nearly 20 years in law enforcement and served with HCSO for about 13 years. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez described Gutierrez as an “excellent” sergeant who gave "exemplary service" and was an excellent deputy before that.
If Spry, 42, who had a baby a month before the crash, serves the full sentence, she'll be in her mid-80s when she gets out of prison.
It took the jury less than 15 minutes to convict her.