COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Close to 100 people are killed by a drunk driver each year in Colorado, and anyone could become a victim.
One Colorado Springs family was rocked in 1995, by vehicular homicide D.U.I. The close, loving family lost their only son, Billy Palmer, on what should have been one of his happiest hours.
"The most devastating part of all of it was instead of making wedding plans, now I'm making funeral plans," said Jayne Conrad, Palmer's fiancee.
The night started with a celebration. Conrad and Palmer were getting married.
"We left the restaurant and decided I would stop by King Soopers to get some things for breakfast," Conrad said.
It was the last time she would see Palmer alive.
Just before midnight on June 23, 1995, Palmer was pulling into the intersection of Hancock and Drennen when a man named Angelo Martinez ran a red light, slamming a stolen vehicle into Palmer's white pickup truck at 52 miles an hour.
Police needed Conrad to identify Palmer's body.
"I walked in and I bent down and kissed him, and at that point I lost control and started screaming," she said.
One hour away at a hotel in Pueblo, Palmer's parents were doing the same thing.
"I just started screaming, 'No!' and fell on the floor," said Joan Palmer, Billy's mom.
"To have someone come in the middle of the night and knock on your door and say these two words he's dead, that changed our life forever," said Ron Palmer, Billy's dad.
Billy Palmer's daughter, Christine, was only 10 years old at the time.
"I remember getting dressed, putting my shoes on, a blank look on my face, because it's hard to process at that age," said Christine Harrison.
Accident reports indicate Martinez was driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.225 and a suspended license.
Billy Palmer's death marked Martinez's third D.U.I. in five years.
But those weren't the only crimes Martinez had committed nor the only crimes he attributes to alcohol abuse. Martinez hadn't gone eight months in the last seven years without being charged with a crime, ranging in severity from sexual assault to robbery.
Following Billy Palmer's death and prior to Martinez's incarceration, he drank and drove again.
"It was a slap in the face to my son," Joan Palmer said.
In 1996, Martinez decided to plead guilty in exchange for leniency. Ultimately he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
"Plea bargaining is an excuse," Ron Palmer said.
Martinez is now set to be released in less than a year, getting out much earlier than his sentence because of good behavior.
Meanwhile, Billy Palmer's family says they're continuing to bear the life sentence they received the night Billy died.
"I think I was mad for a really long time because he took something from me and that's how I looked at it," said Harrison.
What did Martinez take from Bily Palmer's family that night?
"Our future. He is my only son. I think I would give up everything for only one hour," Joan Palmer said.
"Angelo took my happiness, my future and my best friend," Conrad said.
"One thing I miss the most is (hearing) 'I love you,'" Ron Palmer said.
Since that night almost 14 years ago, Ron and Joan Palmer avoid the intersection of Drennen and Hancock as much as possible, but they took FOX21 News reporter Danielle Leigh there.
"Every time I go through there I get sick to my stomach," Ron Palmer said. "Right here is where it happened."
"To know that's where he took his last breath," Joan Palmer said.
Read Part 2 of this story to hear from the man who killed Billy Palmer.
Click on the camera icon to view the segment as it aired on FOX21 News.
