Cougar Connection Online
Cypress Creek High School
Houston, TX
Issue Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Issue: Print Vol. 33 No. 4
Last Update: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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 Principal Jim Wells, left, discusses the Key Club petition to toughen the intoxication manslaughter law with Mothers Against Drunk Driving representative Rose Brown, right, on Feb. 23. Club President T.J. Sarkar and sponsor Jack Crook spearheaded the campaign, which collected 1,200 signatures. - Jordan Dougherty
Sunday, February 22, 2009 By Francis Lopez
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The Key Club collected 1,200 signatures recently for a petition to tighten the punishment for people who kill someone while drinking and driving.
The petition proposes a new law known as "Lilly's Law" that would give a minimum of 15 years in prison to a driver over the legal alcohol limit who hits and kills another person.
"We [as the community] have the most power," Key Club President TJ Sarkar said. "We oppose injustice, and by imposing greater punishment, we can change the law. This can happen to anyone, and by tolerating this, we are putting ourselves in danger and saying it's OK for someone to run you over."
Government teacher and Key Club sponsor Jack Crook decided to start the petition after a Bleyl Middle School student was killed in an accident. His wife, Barbara Crook, is the principal there.
Nicole "Lillyh" Lalime was hit by a car after stepping off a school bus on her way home from school Dec. 16. She was rushed to the hospital. The man driving the car was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter.
"I was at the hospital when Lillyh passed away, that's [one of the reasons] I decided to start the petition," Jack Crook said. "I think people are tired of Texas Laws not being strict enough on DWI."
The petition read as follows:
We the undersigned request that the law for the State of Texas be changed so that a perpetrator of a fatal accident, while under the influence of alcohol over the legal limit of the State of Texas, be charged with murder by depraved indifference and have a minimum of a 15 years prison term imposed. We also request that this new change in the vehicular manslaughter law be known as “Lilly’s Law” in honor of Nicole “Lilly” Lalime who was killed by a drunk driver Tuesday, December 16, 2008.
Crook said the Key Club decided to spell her name "Lilly" in the petition because it is a more common spelling and she had only begun adding an "H" to her name in the last few weeks of her life.
According to KHOU-TV's Web site, this wasn't the driver's first arrest. He was convicted of an open warrant for making a terrorist threat, and a previous conviction for driving under the influence with a child under 15.
"People should think before they put themselves in a situation that could harm them or others. Lillyh was so young, she didn't deserve to die this way," Lillyh's mom, Valoree Lalime said. "But it makes me feel good that we are able to change the outcome of the situation."
The school plans to present the petition to the school's area Mothers Against Drunk Driving representative Rose Brown. Brown will present the petition to Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston. Patrick has three pending bills related to drinking and driving.
"I think people have reacted [greatly] to this petition. If it becomes a law, we will feel so gratified that we helped people who abuse alcohol frequently [and kill someone] get charged with murder rather than manslaughter," Crook said. "It's a bigger offense."
The Key Club also helped raise money for a fund set up at the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union for the Lalime family. Student Council, Spanish Honor Society, Art Club, The Solution, Asia Club, HOLA, National Honor Society and the yearbook and newspaper staffs also contributed to the cause. Together, the clubs raised nearly $4,000.
Even though the situation was tragic, Lalime said she feels happy that something that can help others has come out of her daughter's accident.
"Lillyh was the type of girl that would always put herself last. She always helped others, and I believe that this petition is a way of honoring her," Lalime said. "It was such a loss, but if anything good comes out of her accident, it has been used as a purpose."
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The president of Key Club, T.J. Sarkar, helped spread the word about the proposed Lilly's Law. Club sponsor Jack Crook started the petition because a student at his wife's campus was killed after getting off the school bus by a hit-and-run driver who was allegedly drunk.
By Javia Cooks
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