Life is cheaper here.

4 years for a DUI death yesterday.

Delaware man faces four-year sentence for Sea Isle crash that killed bridesmaid
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, 609-463-6716

Published: Friday, April 03, 2009

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Delaware resident Jayson Maykut admitted Friday to drinking eight to 10 mixed cocktails at a wedding rehearsal dinner in Upper Township hours before his car crashed into a utility pole, killing his passenger, 25-year-old Megan A. Perry, of Wilmington.

“I did not feel that I was impaired,” Maykut told Superior Court Judge Susan Maven as he explained why he got behind the wheel on the night of May 15, 2008.

But with Perry’s family and friends looking on, Maykut said he has since had time to reflect on the events prior to the crash. “I’m absolutely sure now that I was impaired,” he said.

First Assistant Prosecutor J. David Meyer said Maykut’s blood-alcohol content was .098, above the legal limit of .08.

Maykut initially pleaded not guilty after being indicted in January, but on Friday he accepted a plea offer and pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, a second-degree crime, and driving under the influence.



In exchange for the plea, Maykut, 29, will be sentenced as a third-degree offender to four years in prison under the state’s No Early Release Act, meaning he must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Once he is released, he would remain under parole supervision for three years and lose his driver’s license for between five to 10 years.

Maykut, standing beside his attorney Joseph Rodgers, said he began drinking shortly after he arrived at the Deauville Inn in Strathmere at about 7 p.m. for a friend’s rehearsal dinner. The wedding, where Maykut was expected to be a groomsman, was to take place the following day in Sea Isle City.

Just after 11 p.m., he said Perry, who was to be a bridesmaid, asked if she could ride back to Sea Isle City with him. The two left Strathmere and crossed into Sea Isle City on a clear, dry night when another car pulled out in front of them on Landis Avenue, he said.

Maykut, who according to an accident reconstructionist was traveling in excess of 70 miles per hour, said he swerved to the left to avoid the car because he could not stop in time.

“I lost control of the vehicle,” Maykut said.

The car crashed into a telephone pole at Fifth and Landis Avenue along the city’s northern end, and Perry was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was the combination of Maykut’s blood-alcohol content and the excessive speed that contributed to Maykut’s recklessness, Meyer said. There were also patches of sand on the road.

Defense attorney Joseph Rodgers said he sat down with Maykut and his family and after discussing the facts of the case Maykut opted to plead guilty rather than go to trial.

According to her obituary, Perry was working to earn a master’s degree in education and wanted to become a school guidance counselor.

She had lived in New Zealand, traveled to Alaska and Italy, ran in charity races and volunteered for various organizations. In the week before her death, she completed the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Philadelphia for breast cancer research.

Maykut, an active member of the Delaware Air National Guard, remains free on $100,000 bail and will be sentenced June 5.