Driver given light sentence for crash that took lives of Lakota mother and son

Friday, January 18, 2019  

By Kevin Abourezk

A Nebraska man who was convicted of causing a crash that cost two Oglala Sioux Tribe citizens their lives was sentenced to two years of probation this week.

William Hilton, 32, also will spend 14 days in jail, a sentence that he must serve in seven-day periods, each to start on the anniversary of the February, 23, 2018, crash. His first seven-day jail sentence will begin this February 23 and the next will begin February 23, 2020.

Sheridan County Judge Russell Harford further ordered Hilton to pay for the funeral costs and headstones for 46-year-old Lynell Morrison-Cash and her 14-year-old son Waylon Cash, who both died in the crash last year. Jessica Cash, Morrison-Cash’s 12-year-old daughter, was critically injured in the crash as well.

The judge also ruled Hilton would have to serve 90 days at the end of his probation unless he could prove to the court that he shouldn’t have to serve that sentence.

“It’s unbelievable how you can kill two people and get two years’ probation,” said William Cash, Waylon’s father and Lynell’s husband.

Hilton was driving a Dodge Dakota east on U.S. Highway 20, not far from the Pine Ridge Reservation, when he attempted to pass a semi-trailer. He struck a Chrysler Sebring convertible being driven by Morrison-Cash, who was headed in the opposite direction.

The mother and son died immediately. Jessica Cash and Hilton were life-flighted to a hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota.

As a result of a plea bargain in October, Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons dropped one of the counts of motor vehicle homicide against Hilton, and he pleaded no contest to the remaining count.

He had faced up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

William Cash said he understands that Nebraska law restricts the kinds of charges the state could have brought against Hilton. He said he plans to begin advocating for changes to Nebraska law in order to grant greater discretion to prosecutors over how they charge people who kill other people while committing a motor vehicle violation.

Currently, prosecutors in Nebraska can’t charge people with felonies if they believe the fatal crash they caused was accidental, Cash said. He would like to see the law changed to allow prosecutors to charge people with felonies if they cause fatal accidents, especially if there are aggravating circumstances, such as the existence of alcohol or drugs in the defendant’s system.

Hilton’s blood-alcohol level was 0.023, well under Nebraska’s legal limit of 0.08.

In order to get the law changed in Nebraska, Cash would either need to get the state Legislature to change the law or get 25,000 signatures on a petition to put the issue on a ballot. The earliest feasible timeline for such an effort would be 2020, he said. That would require him to get 25,000 signatures by the end of July 2020 in order to get the issue on the ballot later that November.

In May, Cash filed a civil lawsuit against Hilton on his daughter’s behalf seeking compensation for the injuries she suffered and for her continuing medical expenses. Jessica, who was sitting in the back seat of her mother’s car, was critically injured and has had to endure 10 months of painful physical and mental therapy.

Later this month, she is scheduled to have full reconstructive surgery on her knee, which was shattered in the crash, her father said.

“Battles are still being fought that my daughter has to overcome and get through as a result of this individual’s decision,” he said.

He said Hilton apologized to him in court on Thursday, saying he would have to live with the guilt of having caused the crash last year.

In December at the Lakota National Invitational basketball tournament in Rapid City, tournament organizers honored Waylon Cash’s life by giving two high school players an award named for the outgoing, popular teenager.

William Cash said it was humbling to be able to hand the awards to the players, Tyson Iyotte and Shayla Bravo.

“I didn’t know if I could get through it, but the two people that got the award were very inspirational,” William Cash said.

Jessica Cash, 12, was seriously injured in the February 2018 car crash that took the lives of her mother and her brother. She has spent nine months in physical and mental therapy. The following photos were taken earlier this year.

Driver takes plea deal for deaths of Lakota mother and son (November 16, 2018)
Charges filed for deaths of Lakota mother and her 14-year-old son (July 9, 2018)
Pine Ridge family still grieving after crash claims lives of mother and 14-year-old son (April 19, 2018)