MACON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man convicted of a drunken driving crash that killed a Macon County deputy nearly two years ago has been ordered to serve a 12 year sentence for his role in the deadly crash.
The crash happened just after midnight on July 29, 2023, along Highway 10 in Lafayette. Authorities reported Devin Slayton’s 2013 Ford F-150 was traveling north on the highway when it crossed the center line and hit Sgt. William Cherry, who was driving a 2020 Dodge Durango, head-on in the southbound lane.
Slayton reportedly told law enforcement that he had been drinking before he got behind the wheel. In fact, prosecutors said his blood alcohol result was 0.154 when the crash occurred, which is almost twice the legal limit.
A Macon County Grand Jury indicted Slayton on charges of DUI and vehicular homicide in October 2023. News 2 previously reported that he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication on Nov. 15, 2024.
Slayton was sentenced to 12 years in prison — the maximum sentence — on Thursday, Feb. 13, just a few months after pleading guilty to the charge. The sentence will have to be served in full at a state prison and Slayton will not be eligible for parole.
Cherry was beloved by his family and the Macon County community. News 2 partnered with the community after the crash and raised $20,000 for the family through the "News 2 Gives Back" initiative. The family paid it forward by establishing a scholarship in Cherry's name.
Cherry's widow gave a victim impact statement at the hearing:
"The irresponsible inexcusable decision you made to drink and drive on July 28th, 2023, took the life of sergeant William Jace Cherry. He was my husband, a son, a papa, a father figure to many, and a mentor. The sheriff and two officers knocked on my door early that morning of July 29th to tell me 'William didn't make it.' I fall into a million pieces still, to this day, every time I hear a knock. Hearing 'William didn't make it' plays over and over [in] my mind countless times a day since he was taken from me. I don't just grieve his absence. I grieve the life we shared. I grieve for the future we had planned and we will never get to experience together. I grieve for him and the life that he will never get to live — the things he will never get to experience and the dreams he will never be able to achieve. I grieve him for not being able to see our grandchildren grow up. He loved being a papa. I grieve for his parents — they lost their only child — and the pain they are enduring each day. I grieve for everyone who loves him and everything they are missing because he's no longer alive because of your decision to drink and drive. I grieve so many things from the loss of my person because when someone dies, it is never just a person we grieve. We grieve all."
"I feel like justice was served today," Cherry's widow said after the sentencing. "It doesn’t bring back William or lessen our grief but we are thankful."
"I am appreciative of the careful attention Judge Kane showed in going through all of the proof and the law to arrive at the maximum sentence in this case," 15th Judicial District Attorney Jason Lawson said in a statement to News 2. "I hope that the sentence will bring as much justice as the law allows to Sgt. Cherry’s family and to the community he served."