Mookie Blaylock was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Monday.
According to Steve Visser of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, former Atlanta Hawks guard Mookie Blaylock was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Monday for a vehicular homicide incident that took place last spring.
Blaylock killed Monica Murphy, a mother of five, on May 31, 2013. It is reported that Blaylock will only serve three years of the 15-year sentence after accepting the terms of a plea deal.
That plea came on the day jury selection was to start, attorney Amanda Palmer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The negotiated deal, seven years in prison and eight on probation, allows for Blaylock’s prison sentence to be suspended after three years. The conditions for the suspension include 1,500 hours of community service and treatment for alcoholism, including twice weekly Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. Additionally, he cannot drive until his probation is completed, Palmer said.
“He has admitted he has a problem with alcohol and he is getting treatment for that,” she said.
The toxicology screens showed no alcohol in Blaylock’s system at the time of the crash, Palmer said. The reckless driving, vehicular homicide charges arose because doctors had told him not to drive because he was prone to seizures attributed to alcoholism, she said. Blaylock was arrested on a DUI charge one month before the crash. He had “several past DUI convictions,” Palmer said.
Blaylock, 47, sustained some injuries during the crash, and had to be put on life support after the accident. His lawyers claim that the accident occurred as a result of one of Blaylock’s medical conditions.
Mookie Blaylock spent 13 years in the NBA, and seven of those with the Atlanta Hawks. While with Atlanta, Blaylock averaged 14.9 points, 7.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. He made his one and only NBA All-Star team in 1993-94 as a member of the Hawks.
@wcboyer24
