Driver in fatal hit-and-run gets 19 months in prison.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

Aaron Vernon Heyer on Friday walked into a courtroom full of young men in coats and ties, blue and pink ribbons pinned to their lapels in memory of their fraternity brother, Brian Reams, 22.

Heyer, 23, walked out in handcuffs to serve a 19-month prison sentence for felony hit-and-run for failing to stop after striking Reams as he crossed Hilyard Street on foot with a friend around 2:45 a.m. on March 4. Reams later died from head injuries.

Springfield police stopped Heyer four hours later as he was driving a friend's Cadillac that matched the car involved in the collision, but Heyer denied responsibility, Deputy Lane County District Attorney David Vill said in court.

It took Eugene police three months to build a case against the Coos Bay resident. Heyer was released on bail after his arrest in June.

In the front row of the packed courtroom, Reams' mother sat directly behind Heyer among ribboned supporters who sniffed back tears and muffled their sobs.

In a 14-minute statement to the judge, Debra Reams described the "ripple effect" of her son's accidental death: how it had drawn people together, how it had torn apart their future plans with her son, how so many little decisions led two young men's lives to collide in such tragedy, how it still seems unreal.

"I don't believe everything happens for a reason. I think just, things happen," she told Lane County Circuit Judge Karsten Rasmussen. "I'm sad all the time. I can't really believe I'm never going to see him again."

Reams, a retired teacher from Pocatello, Idaho, said her son had a good heart. He was a junior, a member of Beta Theta Pi, majoring in human physiology. He was no saint, she said, but he may become the angel who gives Heyer a chance - and the motivation - to turn his life around.

Heyer's plea deal makes him eligible for prison programs, including alcohol and drug abuse treatment and the state's SUMMIT program, which offers a sentence reduction for inmates who can complete the intensive six-month reform effort.

"A lot of decisions that Aaron has made in his life have come to this point," she said. "He has an opportunity here that not many people get. I really see that Brian has given him this."

Addressing Heyer, she said, "You are going to change. This is your gift. Are you going to open it?"

Standing before Rasmussen, hands in the pockets of his jeans, Heyer fought back tears as he apologized.

"It's something I'll regret the rest of my life," he said.

Heyer, who was driving with a suspended license and without insurance, will have his driving privilege revoked for five years following his release from prison.