Nine years later, the pain hasn't subsided.
Laurie Platt's mind won't allow it. Neither will the judicial system.
On Oct. 14, 2000, Laurie Platt lost her husband, her preschool-age children lost their father and the city lost two of its officers, Sgt. John D. Platt and Kevin McCarthy, when a drunk driver going 63 mph ran a stop sign in Hamilton and rammed their police car.
In the nine years since, the driver, Shane Daniel Weiss, was convicted of manslaughter, served his time, was free on probation, violated the terms of his release and got sent back to prison. Laurie Platt's children, Rachel and John Jr., are now 12 and 13, and Laurie just returned to work teaching second-graders at Leith Walk Elementary School.
She is trying to move forward with her life. But the anniversary of her husband's death was Wednesday and she was back at the crash site laying a wreath on a memorial marker. And the case against Weiss lingers - just two weeks ago, he was sent back to prison for violating his probation.
"It seems that as soon as the wounds start to heal just a tiny little bit, then - bam - it's pulled wide open again," Laurie told me. "It's devastating."
Adding to her grief, Laurie had attended every court and parole hearing to make sure her husband's killer got justice, but she wasn't notified of the probation hearing on Oct. 5. Prosecutors pleaded with the judge to send Weiss away for five years, but he got only two.
Now Laurie can't help but wonder if she could've made a difference.
"I'm very upset that I wasn't there," she said. "I'm grateful for the two years that he did get. But I'm more devastated that he didn't get more time."
On that horrible day nine years ago, the impact from Weiss' pickup truck knocked the bolts from the chassis of Platt and McCarthy's Ford Crown Victoria and sent it skidding on its side into a wooden signpost and a metal pole. Beer cans spilled from Weiss' truck and onto the roadway.
Weiss, whose blood alcohol level was measured at 0.13 percent, was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.
Police protested the suspect's prison sentence - 10 years, with all but six years suspended. Police protested again when Weiss was freed in December 2003 after having served just a little more than half his sentence and was allowed to go home on probation until April 10 of this year.
A judge ordered him to complete 1,000 hours of community service.
