Published by the New Haven Register

It got top billing and was printed in full

As a resident of Derby Ave. Derby, I was sickened to see how light of a sentence Wade Murphy received with regards to Claudia Woodford’s death.  Through the plea bargain process Murphy was able to reduce the charges, effectively reducing Judge Patrick Carroll III ability to punish Murphy for the criminal that he (Murphy) really is.
    
I, as many people, believe that actions speak louder than words.  The fact that Murphy got out of his car and saw a dying woman clutching and injured baby only to get back in his car and drove away from the scene tells me the only thing he regrets is the fact that he got caught. Add to the fact that it was Murphy who hit Claudia as she held Jack and I see a callous beast that has no regard for anyone other than himself when “the heat is on”

Because the charge of driving an uninsured vehicle was dropped, Judge Carroll was unable to fully punish Murphy.  While I feel that insurance premiums are quite expensive, the fact that Mr. Murphy chose to drive an uninsured vehicle made him a criminal as soon as the vehicle left the driveway.  While Wade Murphy may be a nice person to his family, to the rest of society he is a selfish individual who has no intentions of taking any responsibility for his actions both intentional and accidental.

While no amount of money will ever bring back the mother and wife that Claudia Woodford was, a responsible insurance carrying driver would be able to pick up some of the pieces.  I am sure that Claudia, like any good parent, had dreams of seeing her children graduate from high school then attend some type of higher education.  Such dreams cost money.

 If Wade Murphy is truly sorry for what he did, then when he gets out in 30 months he will have a chance to show it.  In 30 months, Claudia’s oldest child will be about 12 years old and the younger child will be about 10, allowing him (Murphy) some time to put a portion of his income towards a college fund for both children.  While doing such will not bring Claudia back, it will help keep a mother’s dream alive.  If in 30 months Wade feels that “he’s paid his debt to society”, then he has truly killed Claudia Woodford in every sense of the word.