{"id":49264,"date":"2014-02-25T20:47:18","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T04:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=49264"},"modified":"2014-02-25T21:26:41","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T05:26:41","slug":"tommie-cole-convicted-in-dui-double-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/02\/25\/tommie-cole-convicted-in-dui-double-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommie Cole convicted in DUI double murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>
In the days following the fatal crash, Walmart associates created memorial photos of Beau (left) and Jeffrey (right) in Walmart Photo Department.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 It took less than two hours Tuesday for a jury to convict Tommie Lee Cole<\/strong> of driving drunk and causing the crash that killed two local Walmart workers nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n

Cole, 26, was found guilty of two counts of second degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one count of DUI causing bodily injury, and one count of driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol causing injury. All special allegations were found to be true, including the allegation that the Cole\u2019s blood alcohol level was greater than .15 percent when he caused the collision that killed 26-year-old Beau Fluker<\/strong> and 23-year-old Jeffrey Gilstrap.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI just started sobbing,\u201d said Jeffrey’s mother, Linda Gilstrap, when asked how she reacted to the verdict. \u201cIt\u2019s not a feeling of joyful victory for me; it\u2019s a hollow victory because it doesn\u2019t bring the boys back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilstrap and Fluker were killed Feb. 26, 2012, when their vehicle collided with Cole\u2019s vehicle at the intersection of Avenue J and 20th Street West in Lancaster. The men had just got off work at the West Lancaster Walmart and were carpooling home, when they were broadsided by Cole\u2019s speeding vehicle.<\/p>\n

\"Tommie<\/a>
Tommie Lee Cole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cole knew it was dangerous to drink and drive, yet he still got behind the wheel after several hours of drinking, prosecutor Edward Wiley stressed during the two-week trial.<\/p>\n

In a passionate closing statement, Wiley asked the jury to compare the two drivers involved in the fatal collision.<\/p>\n

Fluker was \u201cstone cold sober,\u201d having just gotten off work, and was driving eastbound on Avenue J at 39.5 miles per hour, Wiley said.<\/p>\n

Cole was drunk and \u201cdriving a missile on wheels,\u201d when he \u201cpunched it\u201d to 69.19 miles per hour on 20th<\/sup> Street West trying to \u201cbeat the yellow,\u201d Wiley said.<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s blood alcohol level tested at .21, nearly three times the legal limit, and Cole also admitted to investigators that he drank several beers, a shot of whiskey, and a shot of tequila in the hours leading up to the crash, Wiley said.<\/p>\n

Cole was well aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, having been arrested for DUI in 2009 and having completed an alcohol and substance abuse class in 2011, Wiley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knew the danger and he consciously disregarded it,\u201d Wiley told the jury.<\/p>\n

During closing statements, defense attorney Robert Nadler asked jurors to focus on testimony from an \u201cunbiased\u201d civilian eyewitness, who said Fluker was going \u201creally fast.\u201d \u00a0He also said Cole\u2019s actions, although negligent, did not rise to the level of \u201cconscious disregard for human life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like they were taking the facts and slanting them all to serve their purpose,\u201d Gilstrap said. \u201cI was really relieved that the jury was able to see that [Cole] really didn\u2019t have any regard\u2026 he knew what he was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilstrap said the past two years have been a \u201chorrible nightmare of a situation,\u201d and she\u2019s thankful justice has been served.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that I can hope is that from here going out, this will give people a reason to stop and think \u2018I really better call a taxi,\u2019\u201d Gilstrap said.<\/p>\n

Cole is scheduled to be sentenced Friday (Feb. 28). He faces a maximum sentence of 30-years-to-life in state prison.<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

DUI double murder trial begins<\/a><\/p>\n

Man ordered to trial in DUI double murder case<\/a><\/p>\n

Hundreds say goodbye to Beau and Jeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Man charged with murder in fatal DUI crash, bail set at $2 million<\/a><\/p>\n

Family, coworkers remember men lost in alleged DUI crash<\/a><\/p>\n

Alleged DUI driver kills two in Lancaster<\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 It took less than two hours Tuesday for a jury to convict Tommie Lee Cole of driving drunk and causing the crash that killed two local Walmart workers nearly two years ago. Cole, 26, was found guilty of two counts of second degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}