CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Kanawha County woman will serve home confinement for a fatal drunk driving accident after pleading guilty to DUI causing death in March.
34-year-old Keisha Miller of Belle appeared before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard Lindsay on Thursday and was sentenced to 3-15 years of home confinement with additional required jail time for the incident in which she struck and killed Becky Martin on Witcher Creek Road in 2024. Miller was also ordered to pay a $1000 fine and will be given credit for 553 days of time served.
For the first year of home confinement, Miller must spend three weekends per month in the South Central Regional Jail. Miller accepted a plea agreement and admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol when she hit Martin and Tyler Walker, another pedestrian who was injured.
“I’m ashamed and embarrassed to be before you today under these circumstances. My choices on November 15, 2024, were inexcusable, and because of my choices, another human being lost her life,” Miller said.
Martin’s sister appeared in court to represent her family, but no witnesses were called to give statements in support or opposition of Miller during the hearing. Miller offered her apologies to those assembled in the courtroom.
“To the family and the loved ones of Becky Martin, and to Tyler Walker, I am deeply so sorry. I know my words cannot undo your loss or lessen your grief,” she said.
In rendering Miller’s sentence, Judge Lindsay described his decision-making process for a case that he said was not entirely clear-cut. He stated he came to his final decision based upon the fact that there must be punishment for taking a human life.
“She enjoyed a breeze on a spring evening like anybody else or the first frost of fall or the embrace of a loved one, and she is no longer here, and I believe a punishment needs to be dealt with,” he said.
Beginning on June 12, alternative sentences for DUI causing death, like home confinement, will no longer be permitted in West Virginia following the passage of “Baylea’s Law” earlier this year.