Kilby gets 10 years in jail

By Nate Delesline III

Published: May 8, 2008

A Culpeper County man will spend at least 10 years in prison for causing a drunk driving crash that left a Madison elementary school teacher dead.

Amity Stein Grace and her husband Aaron were returning from a birthday shopping trip in Fredericksburg for their 8-year-old son on Nov. 11, 2007, when the crash occurred, killing Amity. She was 31.

According to police, Michael W. Kilby, who was driving a Dodge Dakota eastbound on Route 3, crossed the center line in Stevensburg and struck the left front corner of the Chevy Blazer being driven by Amity. Both vehicles came to rest in a field on the eastbound side of the highway. Aaron sustained minor injuries. Kilby was not injured.

“I think there’s very little the court can say to emphasize the impact that this tragedy has had on the family and the community,” said Circuit Court Judge John R. Cullen. “There’s no putting it back to how it was before,” Cullen said.

Cullen then sentenced Kilby to 20 years in jail with 10 years suspended on a charge of aggravated involuntary manslaughter. He also must serve five years of probation and may not possess alcohol or violate any laws during or after his sentence.

Cullen also revoked Kilby’s driver’s license indefinitely and ordered him to pay court costs.

Kilby entered a guilty plea in February.

Cullen passed the sentence at end of an emotion-filled 45-minute hearing Wednesday afternoon.

“There are days when I wake up and expect her to still be next to me,” Aaron testified. “It feels like forever trying to deal with it.” Aaron also said Amity helped him pick out the suit he was wearing Wednesday.

Both Culpeper County High School graduates, Aaron and Amity first met in junior high, then met again at a high school reunion. The couple had been married seven months before the accident.

“Amity was our cherished daughter,” her mother Kate Stein testified. “She was already planning the family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas,” when the accident happened, she said.

Stein said her daughter’s generosity and passion for children extended beyond the family, too.

She said one year, when her daughter learned that a student’s family couldn’t get all the gifts on his Christmas wish list, Amity when shopping for him.

“The tears began that night and have never stopped,” Stein said.

Kilby stared at the table and appeared to bite his lip during while Stein and Aaron spoke. Dressed in an orange prison suit and shackled at the feet, Kilby tearfully apologized to the Stein and Grace families.

“I didn’t want nothing to happen to nobody that day,” Kilby said, pausing several times to regain his composure. “I know there’s no way to pay this life back — there’s just no way,” he said before shaking his head and looking at the floor. “I pray for Amity every day that she will be blessed in heaven and that you all will be blessed with peace.”

After the hearing, Aaron’s father and Amity’s father-in-law Barry Grace said he was satisfied with the outcome.

“I personally accepted Mr. Kilby’s apology and I thought the judge was right on with the sentence with the suspended driver’s license. We don’t want him to do this again,” he said before leading a prayer for their family and Kilby’s.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Aaron said.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .