More Severe Penalties Coming For Driving Under The Influence Causing Death 

Baylea’s Law is named in honor of Baylea Craig Bower, a 25-year-old Boone County woman killed by an impaired driver on Easter morning in 2023. 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey ceremonially signed House Bill 4712 Friday morning in Beckley.  

“So often a piece of legislation comes over for my desk that’s not just written in ink, but it’s tears of West Virginia families etched in,” he said. “And we’re here today because we all know that the status quo wasn’t good enough here. We know that there was a life that was stolen.”   

The House Judiciary Committee advanced HB 4712 just days after Destiny Lester was sentenced in Raleigh County in connection with Bower’s death on Feb. 12. Many lawmakers expressed shock after the judge handed down a suspended sentence of no less than 3 years and no more than 15 years for D.U.I. causing death.  

Lester, who was 19 at the time of the fatal collision, was placed on home confinement for six months. However, according to court documents, Lester was transferred to the Lakin Correctional Center near Point Pleasant after the court revoked her home confinement in March due to a failed drug test. Her sentence remains suspended. 

The bill establishes a new offense of “Aggravated DUI Resulting in Death,” carrying a mandatory prison sentence of 5 to 30 years, and removes access to home confinement or the youthful offender program.  

Morrisey said the bill sends a message to make sure that drivers are acting for the interest of all West Virginians when on the road. 

“Today we remember Bailey Craig Bower and ensure that statutes that we’re putting forth today reflect the sanctity of human life,” Morrisey said. “That’s important, because we can’t allow loopholes to dictate the results in our criminal justice system. We know we heard the outcry from Boone and Raleigh counties, and we hear it in the halls of the Capitol. That ends now. By signing Bailey’s law, we’re closing gaps in our system and ensuring that those who commit these heartbreaking crimes are held accountable under the law.” 

The law also mandates a fine of $2,000 to $10,000 and enacts a lifetime revocation of the offender’s driver’s license. 

Morrisey was joined by lawmakers including HB 4712’s lead sponsor Del. Josh Holstein, R–Boone. Holstein knows the Craig family personally and attended school with Bower. 

“This tragedy, to happen to them, it broke our community; and to go a little further, for the lack of justice that they received,” he said. “It’s absolutely despicable, and I was thankful to work with (Baylea’s parents) Zelda and Jimmy and the whole family to come up with  Baylea ‘s law, and we worked on it diligently.” 

Baylea’s Law will take effect on June 12.