Drunken driver sentenced to prison for killing Avon Lake cyclist Randy Knilans

ELYRIA — Sharan Carr cried or dabbed at tears through most of her sentencing hearing Friday as family members and friends of Richard "Randy" Knilans got up and shared their memories of the late husband, father and grandfather — a man Carr killed while driving drunk last summer. The family also told Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski that there is a hole in their lives they can't fill with therapy, the kindnesses of strangers or the best wishes of the hundreds of people who came out to Randy Knilans' calling hours. Pursuant to an agreement between Carr's attorney, the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office and with the blessing of the Knilans family, Carr will serve three-and-a-half years in prison with no possibility of early release. The Knilans family agreed to the plea deal to prevent a lengthy trial, Assistant Prosecutor Matt Kern said. Betleski also stripped Carr, 65, of Sheffield Lake, of her driver's license for the rest of her life. He also noted the media attention the case had received and commented that some people might find justice lacking even as Carr heads to prison. "Nobody will be satisfied or certain that justice prevailed or justice ruled," he said. When given the chance to speak, Carr turned in her seat and addressed the packed courtroom. "I just want everyone to know from the bottom of my heart, if I could have exchanged anything for that day, I would," she said, her voice cracking. "I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart." She continued: "I lived my life like probably almost all of you, very forthright, and for this to have happened, it's horrible. I will accept my consequences. I want to say I'm sorry, too, to the biking community. I also rode that bike trail almost every day until the accident happened. I'm so sorry, the police department, everybody involved, but mostly, particularly the family and your loss." Carr had a walker with her in court, as she is recovering from hip replacement surgery, attorney Jay Milano said. He requested that Betleski not send her to prison prior to Feb. 17 so she could fully recuperate from her surgery. The judge agreed to allow her to report to Lorain County Jail before noon that day to start serving her sentence. Milano said Carr lived a "worthwhile," crime-free life and retired before her actions June 6. He also said that punishment for her crimes was "necessary" and "just." "She is being punished and should be," he told Betleski. "The pain she caused (Randy Knilans') family is a terrible thing, but she herself is not a terrible person." 'He protected my heart and put me first. That is love.' Randy Knilans, 66, was an architect by trade and a civic leader in Avon Lake. He served on the city's Planning Commission, Zoning Board and Historic Preservation Commission and designed the gazebo at the Avon Lake Veterans Memorial Park. "He was always doing what was right for his family and community," his son Brad Knilans said. In his spare time, Randy Knilans loved cycling, working on cars, sailing and doting on his three grandchildren, family members said. Had Carr spent $20 to pay for a ride home, Patricia Knilans' husband might be alive today, she said. "Twenty dollars. Twenty dollars for a ride home could have saved Randy's life and kept Sharan from prison," Patricia Knilans said. In her emotional victim impact statement, Patricia Knilans said she and her husband were hoping to retire in the next several years and spend time with their grandchildren. That dream was shattered, she said, by Carr's "thoughtless, selfish and reckless" actions. Patricia Knilans said she could barely identify her husband's body when it was released from MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Randy Knilans was hit so hard by Carr's vehicle his face was "unrecognizable." An organ donor, none of his organs were viable for donation because of his injuries. Patricia Knilans said she has no appetite, no desire to "clean or maintain order" in her home, suffers from depression, at one point last year had suicidal thoughts and is now in therapy. Her husband was strong, brave, honest, true, a friend, husband and grandfather, Patricia Knilans said, who lived life with humility and humanity and whose "crazy, distinct laugh" is now silent. "I have the best of him," she said. "We were 16 when we met. He protected my heart and put me first. That is love." 'This wasn't an accident' Kyle Knilans wrote that her parents were in their 90s when they died, meaning her brother Randy probably had another 25 or 30 years to enjoy his life, one that Carr cut short. "We should not be here today," she wrote in a letter that was read in court by Anna Evans, a victim witness advocate with the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. "Randy was a great guy. ... He was supposed to be here the rest of my life." Brad Knilans, who lives in California, said he was on a business trip in New York City when his mother called to tell him his father had died. He told Betleski he then sat alone in his hotel room and cried. "It was the most alone and scared I've ever been in my entire life," Brad Knilans said. The Knilans family said Randy was properly clad in reflective clothing and a helmet and took all necessary safety precautions — riding only in designated bike lanes or trails and riding during daylight hours — but that didn't matter when Carr, driving drunk, struck him from behind on Lake Road near Miller Road on June 6. Sheffield Lake police arrested Carr after a traffic stop, during which she refused a breath test. Avon Lake police also later found a resident whose security system captured the collision on video, Kern told the court. Witnesses told Avon Lake investigators Carr swerved into the designated bike lane "five or six times" before she struck and killed Randy Knilans, Kern said. So impaired was Carr that she didn't even know she had hit and mortally wounded a cyclist until police pulled her over and told her, he noted. "This wasn't an accident," he said. "This was criminal conduct by Miss Carr." Patricia Knilans said she was mystified how Carr never learned the lesson that drunken driving is a poor choice. Addressing her husband's killer at one point, she told Carr that "Your character is not in question here: It's your actions." "We had to clean up the mess you created," she said. "Your mess became our mess ... You made a choice to kill him. It was not an accident." Randy Knilans' children and his wife said they will always remember his integrity. "I hold his lessons close and always aspire to do the right thing," Brad Knilans said. Randy Knilans had "more integrity than anyone I've ever known," his daughter Becky Gilchrist told the court. "He had the patience of a saint. No one can take away his legacy. He was too good of a man for that." "He's irreplaceable," Randy Knilans' best friend Thomas Rocks said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.