Drunken driver who severed boy's arm in crash gets probation from St. Louis County judge

Dec. 18--CLAYTON -- The mother of a preschooler whose arm was severed by a drunken driver is livid that the man responsible won't spend any time in jail for the crime.

"The justice system is a joke," Cristal Waller said Friday, a day after the driver was sentenced to five years' probation. "This says, it's okay to drink and drive, that you're going to get a slap on the hand."

The driver was Calvin G. Cosby, 35, of the 800 block of Dawnview Court in unincorporated north St. Louis County. On Thanksgiving night in 2014, his car crossed the center line of Aubuchon Road and slammed head-on into an oncoming car.

Waller, her boyfriend and her two sons were injured, suffering broken bones and other injuries. The left arm of her 4-year-old son, Devon Meyer, was severed at the shoulder, and later reattached by doctors. Devon has undergone four surgeries and has at least two more ahead of him, his mother says.

Cosby's blood-alcohol level was .187 percent, more than twice the legal limit in Missouri.

Cosby pleaded guilty in October of four counts of second-degree assault. He entered a blind plea, which means he didn't go along with the state's recommendation for sentencing and would take whatever punishment the judge handed down. St. Louis County prosecutors recommended seven years in prison. Cosby has a prior alcohol driving conviction, authorities say.

Waller, who used to work as a legal assistant in a law office, knew it was possible the judge might not agree with the prosecutors' full recommendation. But Waller said she was expecting Cosby would get at least one or two years behind bars.

In court Thursday, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Sandra Farragut-Hemphill opted for no prison or jail time, not even a few months of so-called "shock time" in jail. She put Cosby on probation for five years.

Farragut-Hemphill declined Friday, through a worker in her office, to talk with a reporter about the sentencing.

Cosby could not be reached. His attorney, Rufus Tate, did not return a call seeking comment. A mugshot of Cosby was not available.

Waller said that, before sentencing, she talked to Farragut-Hemphill and showed the judge her son's X-ray, which shows the severed arm on the gurney, and a photo of Devon shortly after doctors reattached it.

"I asked her, as a mom, what do you think is fair?" Waller said.

Waller, 31, said the judge told her she was sorry for what the victims went through but had to remain fair-minded.

Court records show the crash happened on Nov. 27, 2014, on westbound Aubuchon Road, east of Teson Road, in North County.

Waller and her family live in the Florissant area. She said they had just left a relative's house in O'Fallon, where they had celebrated Thanksgiving, and were heading home. She said her boyfriend was driving and the boys were in the backseat.

"We saw a car veer off the road, so we slowed down and got closest to the right side of road as possible," Waller said. "The next thing we know, the car over-corrected and came and hit us head-on."

Waller said her elbow was broken and her liver was bleeding. Her boyfriend, 34, suffered six broken ribs, broken femur, and more broken bones in his leg and heel. Her son Jacob, now 11, suffered internal bleeding and severe whiplash, she said. Devon, now 5, had a severed left arm.

Waller said a passerby took off his coat and kept Waller and her sons warm until help arrived.

Devon is "doing okay," Waller said. "He's coped with it pretty well."

He cannot bend his arm at the elbow. "The bicep muscle was completely ripped off," she said. "He can't flex his fingers outward, he can't bend his wrist up and down."

Doctors think things can improve, she said. Her family has filed suit against the driver. The suit is pending, she said. She said the maximum payout from the man's insurance company was $50,000 per accident.

"My son's first bill was $120,000," she said.

Kim Bell -- 314-340-8115

@kbellpd on Twitter

[email protected]

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