1/10/19

By Rob Moore  and Dean Dyer

(Cleveland)- Jay Holcomb, 37 of Cleveland, will spend the next 14 years behind bars after entering a guilty plea Thursday in the 2017 wreck that claimed the life of 3-year-old Easton Cain in the parking lot of Ingles in Cleveland.

The plea agreement came only a month before he was scheduled to face trial in Union County.  Holcomb pleaded guilty before Senior Judge Richard Winegarden, who sentenced him to a total of 20 years, with 14 years to serve.

Appearing in White County Superior Court Thursday morning, Holcomb, in an agreement with  District Attorney Jeff Langley, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of drugs, reckless driving, and driving with an expired license in the incident that happened about 12:45 p.m. Jan. 17, 2017.

Holcomb’s Chevrolet Avalanche crossed over the travel lane from an adjacent traffic row and struck the back of a parked 2012 Ford Explorer, pinning the child between the vehicles, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The impact pushed the Explorer into a parked Ford F-250 pickup truck.

Holcomb also pleaded guilty to a 2017 possession of methamphetamine charge unrelated to the fatal wreck.

DA Langley said we agreed to this plea to put the family through one difficult day rather than one difficult week.

Georgia law only allows 15 years maximin sentence for vehicular homicide, Langley said he was happy with what the judge gave.