BIDDEFORD, Maine – York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery has announced the Sept. 13 sentencing of a 42-year-old tractor-trailer driver convicted of manslaughter in connection with the deaths of Geoffrey and Elizabeth Gattis on the Maine Turnpike in January 2021.
David Herring, formerly of South Portland, was operating a tractor-trailer on the Maine Turnpike on Jan. 12, 2021, in Kittery when he became distracted and ignored signs that warned of traffic delays, Slattery said. Traveling at 57 mph, he failed to stop for the slowed traffic and struck the couple’s vehicle which was traveling at three mph. The couple of Falmouth was killed in the crash.
Herring was sentenced at York Judicial Center in Biddeford by Justice Richard Mulhern to 10 years in prison, with all but five years suspended, followed by four years of probation for each of the two manslaughter convictions.
“We are very sorry for the loss the Gattis family suffered,” said Slattery in a news release. “Distracted driving is a serious problem in Maine and in this case resulted in a tragedy that could have been avoided. We hope this sentence will raise awareness of the importance of paying attention to your surroundings and not to be distracted by phones or other devices while driving. We thank the Maine State Police, the Maine Computer Crimes Unit, and the Kittery Police Department for their thorough investigations.”
York Judicial Center, Biddeford, State of Maine