By Jason Hancock
Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was drunk in February 2021 when he crashed his truck into two vehicles on the side of an exit ramp along an interstate near the Chiefs’ practice facility.
Six people were injured, including 5-year-old Ariel Young, who sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for 11 days. According to her family, Young continues to suffer memory loss and issues with speech and movement.
Reid pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison.
But on Friday, with little explanation and without consulting with local prosecutors or the victims’ family, Parson commuted Reid’s sentence — allowing him to serve under house arrest until October 2025.
Parson’s decision drew immediate outrage.
“There simply can be no response that explains away the failure to notify victims of the offender,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a press release. She later added: “I simply say I am saddened by the self-serving political actions of the governor and the resulting harm that it brings to the system of justice.”
Tom Porto, the attorney for Young’s family, told the Daily Beast that the family “is disgusted, I am disgusted and I believe… that the majority of the people in the state of Missouri are disgusted by the governor’s actions.”
State Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat, posted on social media that she “really cannot imagine any justification for commuting a drunk driver who severely injured a 5 year old.”
Criticism also came from Parson’s fellow Republicans.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican who chairs the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, posted on social media that he “cannot imagine the pain this must cause to the family of the victim, an innocent 5-year-old girl whose life is forever changed. This is not justice.”
Luetkemeyer’s sentiment was echoed by state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold running for Congress.
“This isn’t justice,” she wrote on social media.
A convicted drunk driver “should never have their sentence commuted,” state Rep. Adam Schwadron, a Republican from St. Charles who is running for secretary of state, posted on social media. “A convicted drunk driver that injured a child should never be considered to have their sentence commuted.”
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, the GOP frontrunner to replace Parson when he leaves office because of term limits this year, released a statement to the Kansas City Star saying the sentence reduction was “not a good look for the governor and not something I believe I would do.”
“Britt Reid’s reckless decision to drive drunk left Ariel Young with a lifelong traumatic brain injury,” Ashcroft told the Star, “and while the Reid family obviously holds a special place in the hearts of Missourians and Kansas City Chiefs fans, that does not entitle them to special treatment. My heart goes out to the Young family.”
In her statement, Peters Baker noted that Parson refused to use his power to commute the sentences of Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson, who both served long prison sentences and were eventually exonerated and set free despite the governor declining to intervene.
“We are reminded that this governor did not use his political power to commute the sentence of Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson. He used his political power to free a man with status, privilege and connections,” Peters Baker said. “Both Kevin and Lamar are freed today under the rule of law, but only after difficult battles to gain their freedom.”
Parson is a longtime Chiefs season ticket-holder holder who attended Super Bowl this year and celebrated with the team at its victory parade. Reid’s sentencing reprieve was included among three commutations and 36 pardons announced late Friday afternoon by the governor’s office.
A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment on the criticism.
14 comments:
It's his last term, he doesn't care anymore.
He's from the party of 'family values' and Law and Order ya'll!
Get used to it america, if trump gets elected the rule of law will be completely dismantled and we'll witness abominable misjustice like this from here on out.
Parson should be censured or impeached
To 12:43
You are so correct!
If Trump is elected, our United States of America as we know it will be gone. Everyone had better get ready for changes thought never could happen.
He served one year. It was his 2nd DWI. In Jasper, Mcdonald, or Newton County you can get 4 to 6 DWI's and still not go prison and very little county jail time.
If Trump gets elected your USA will be gone. Many will have to get a job or go back to their legal home country. There should be consequences for ALL and not just a coach’s son. Can’t wait for your USA to be gone!
They need tougher DWI / DUI - Laws and then Enforce them to the fullest extent of the law.
So Tired of these Criminals getting away with it - Slaps on the Wrists or Probation.
Parson's is making points for his next Political Run and with the Chiefs coming off their Superbowl Win - he will garner that additional support - even thought Andy's Son should have rotted 2-More Years in Jail...
My god you are dense.
lEtS pAsS anOthER lAw?!
nO wAiT- pASsS mOre lAws!
SMH
6:41AM and 10:29AM - My God You are a Dumb Ass and the Other showing us what not getting an Education can do for you - Pig Latin - Do You Two live in a Barn together.
If anyone needs it Translated - Since these two Half-Wits deserve each other and their pathetic Comments.
lets pass another law?! no wait- pass more laws!
No - We Need what Laws we have to be Enforced to the Fullest Extent.
To Bad You two don't have any Empathy and Respect for the Victims of these Criminals or their Actions. What Andy's Son did was get away with another DWI and ruining a Child's and their Family's Life - Does this make you Happy - YOU LOW LIFES...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ariel-youngs-family-slams-missouri-gov-parsons-for-pardoning-britt-reid-son-of-kansas-city-chiefs-coach
We Need what Laws we have to be Enforced to the Fullest Extent.
Anybody with half the sense God gave a cold bowl of oatmeal could see that the one and only reason Andy Reid's son Britt Reid isn't in prison right now serving the term he was sentenced to by the judge wasn't a lack of laws, or failure to enforce the laws, or any bad decisions by anyone other than Governor Parson.
Only a fool with less than half the sense God gave a cold bowl of would find a false equivalence between the opinion that we don't need more laws to punish drunk driving with a lack of empathy and respect for the victims and family of those maimed and killed by drunk and drugged drivers.
Your overly wordy and semi-incoherent rants provide at least as much enlightenment and entertainment as a bad case of explosive diarrhea in the middle of a cross country road trip in the car you borrowed from a friend for the trip. Not sure how we could exist without them.
Sound like a politician that’s getting ready to retire
What a skidmark he's leaving on Missouri's history.
He's deplorable!
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