May 22, 2002 By April Straughters 3 min read

A Fayette County judge sentenced Davis Jason Long to 15 months in prison Tuesday for leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death. Long, 25, of Grindstone remains free on $10,000 percentage bond, pending the outcome of his appeal, which will be filed later this week.

Long was charged with hitting George Tringes Jr. along Route 166 last April 23 around 1 a.m. He was acquitted of homicide by vehicle by a jury two weeks ago but found guilty of accidents involving death or serious injury, a conviction that has a mandatory one to two year jail term and is essentially defined as leaving the scene of an accident.

According to previous testimony, Tringes was sitting in Long’s lane of travel wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt and black jeans and having a blood-alcohol level of .35 percent.

During an emotional statement addressed to Long, Dora Brooks of Brownsville said she raised Tringes for 17 years and noted that he might have been “at the wrong place at the wrong time.” But she said Long would have made things easier for the family if he would have only stopped after hitting her son that night. Brooks’ statements brought tears to the eyes of other family members in the courtroom.

“You caused our family to cry, hate and grieve. You took our son and you can’t give him back. I hope you have remorse. If you would have only stopped,” Brooks said. “Not knowing who hit our son was the worst thing.”

Long testified that he kept on driving because he thought he hit a garbage bag.

Long told jurors that when the saw the dent in the front of the car, he went back to the scene and saw a person lying on the road, so he called 911, but gave a false name and left before police arrived. He turned himself in four days later, after his passenger Daniel Bogol had already contacted police to tell them he thought Long had hit Tringes.

As part of the pre-sentence report, Long requested house arrest, but Judge Steve P. Leskinen said it is not an option available with the mandatory sentence.

Leskinen also sentenced Long to 30 months of probation. He explained there was a mandatory sentence since Long did in fact cause a death. He said he did not sentence Long to the minimum 12 months in prison because “he knew he caused a death and still waited four days to turn himself in.” But he said he did not sentence him to the maximum 24 months because he “did call 911 that night and did turn himself in eventually.” He said Long may be eligible for boot camp as determined by the state department of corrections. He said Long has no prior records.

Long’s attorney Martha Bailor said she will file an appeal based on “issues related to the statute of vehicle codes” and the fact that Long did call 911 and that he did turn himself in, but is being “punished exactly as someone who would not have tried to contact authorities.”