Dive Brief:
- Jacqueline Badger Mars, the billionaire heiress to the Mars candy fortune, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving in connection with a car crash earlier this year. She will not serve time in jail.
- Mars told the court she fell asleep while driving her Porsche SUV, which then crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a minivan. The driver of the van was pregnant. Her baby, which the family had named Charlie, was delivered via emergency c-section, but died. An 86-year-old woman in the van also perished.
- Statements from the relatives of those killed were read in court. Those statements spoke of forgiveness and urged that Mars not be sentenced to prison.
Dive Insight:
When we read stories such as this, when the capacity of people to forgive what many would consider unforgivable, moves us beyond words. May the dead—Irene Ellisor and baby Charlie—rest in peace. And may the suffering—the loved ones of those lost and Ms. Mars—find peace.