EDMOND — EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a five-part series on the consequences of addiction and substance abuse.



Addiction or abuse of alcohol can profoundly affect those who choose to use the substance and others. Following are some local examples:

• At 8:07 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2002, a car being driven by Matthew J. Halbrook, age 23 at the time, went airborne over the railroad tracks near Coffee Creek and Broadway. At an airbag-clocked speed of 88 mph — the posted speed limit was 45 mph — Halbrook’s car slammed into the side of Sam and Crystal Payne’s car, shoving it across the intersection into a utility pole.

Sam and Crystal, both 24, were killed instantly. Three days earlier, they had learned that Crystal was pregnant with their first child. The offending driver had been at a party, which consisted of food, beer and watching the OU-OSU football game. Marijuana and a prescription drug also played a role in the crash, according to the police report.

• Edmond Police say the city’s social host ordinance, aimed at curbing underage drinking, is making city streets safer. During 2007, the law’s first year, 71 individuals were arrested. Last year, that number fell to 42. Those arrested gain a criminal record and negative publicity in area newspapers.

• On prom night, April 30, 1999, Shawn Billbe, of Yukon, picked up his date, Sara Williams, of Edmond. After the prom, the couple headed with about 60 of their friends to the agreed-upon hotel. Then Sara heard a knock on the door; Shawn had been in a car wreck. Hours later, he died. Within sight of the hotel, on the way back from a nearby convenience store, he was broadsided by a drunken driver with two previous offenses.

• About 180,000 Oklahomans need treatment for alcoholism and about 20,000 need both drug and alcohol treatment, according to the 2006 Transformation State Incentive Grant needs assessment.



Signal 30 Squad

The No. 1 cause of teen deaths in the U.S. is car crashes, and alcohol kills more children than all other illegal drug use combined, government sources report.

Officer Curtis Thompson is part of Edmond’s Signal 30 Squad, which investigates fatality collisions. Thompson said one of the most difficult parts of his job is knocking on a door at 3 a.m. and telling someone their loved one is not coming home.

“People almost never get good news from a police officer,” Thompson said. “It’s also difficult on a personal level because we can relate to the pain we see and part of me feels responsible.”

Thompson said alcohol plays a role in a large number of those notifications. Other factors are speed and inexperience.

Driving while intoxicated can lead to an arrest, and Oklahoma courts require individuals arrested for DUI to attend a victims’ impact panel.

Edmond resident Janella Tears, executive director of the Victims’ Impact Panel of Oklahoma, said three speakers appear at each panel — someone who has lost a loved one in a DUI crash, a first responder who has worked DUI crashes and an individual who killed or injured someone while driving drunk.

“Victims’ Impact Panel aims at the heart,” Tears said. “We don’t use scare tactics, but rather present audiences with reality.

“DUI crashes are killing people in epidemic proportions. It is the No. 1 killer of young people. But it’s not like cancer. There is a cure. Simply do not drive after drinking or using drugs — period.”



Sobering Statistics

Alcohol use is fairly common among Edmond teens.

Nearly 47 percent of Edmond 12th-graders and 34.4 percent of 10th-graders statewide have imbibed alcohol during the past 30 days, according to the 2006 Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment Survey by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Some 32.4 percent of Edmond 12th-graders and 22.7 percent of 10th-graders reported binge drinking.

Nearly 22 percent of 12th-graders and 14 percent of 10th-graders have been drunk or high at school.

Some 15 percent of Edmond 12th-graders and 12.3 percent of 10th-graders stated they need alcohol treatment. An even higher percentage, 19.3 percent of 12th-graders and 16.5 percent of 10th-graders stated they need alcohol/drug treatment.

To help put these numbers in context, as of May 15 Edmond Public Schools had a total of 20,199 students, with 1,349 12th-graders and 1,452 10th-graders. That translates to at least 500 teenagers who admit they need alcohol or drug treatment.



The Survivors

For Edmond residents Rick and Freddi Johnson, their knock on the door came a little after midnight on Nov. 30, 2002.

A young Edmond officer asked Rick if he was related to Crystal and Sam Payne.

Rick replied, “Yes, I am Crystal’s dad.”

The next words changed the Johnsons’ world forever.

“I regret to inform you that at 8:07 p.m. Crystal and Sammy were killed by a drunk driver... .”

Some time after their daughter’s funeral, in addition to their grief, the family members had the legal system to face — the preliminary hearing, the trial and then the sentencing phase.

In 2003, Halbrook was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He is incarcerated at the Lawton Correctional Facility. His parole hearing date is scheduled for July 2032.

Turning their grief into action, the Johnsons speak at victims’ impact panels. They work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a number of state agencies, including the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. They also donated Crystal and Sam’s wrecked car to the Edmond Police Department as a powerful testimony to the consequences of alcohol addiction and abuse.

As volunteers doing at least three victims’ impact panels a month, the Johnsons have shared their story with more than 16,000 students at high schools across the state.

Freddi Johnson said Sam and Crystal were a wonderful couple and one of their priorities in life was lifting others out of their doldrums. Sam worked as a chef/meat cutter, and was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve. Crystal worked as a licensed practical nurse at a doctor’s office with Mercy Health.

The Johnsons said they hope in alcohol-related incidents individuals will change their vocabulary, that they would use the more appropriate word “crash” instead of “accident.”

“There is no accident about it,” Rick Johnson said.

Johnson said friends and family tell him it has been so long since Crystal’s death, to “get over it.”

“You don’t ‘get over it,’” he said. “Parents should not have to bury their children.”

The Johnsons hope telling Crystal’s story will make a difference in someone’s life.

Sara Williams said almost every time she speaks on behalf of Victims Impact Panel of Oklahoma someone talks to her afterwards and tells her how her story touched them, and how they could not imagine losing someone they loved in that manner.

May 1 was 10 years since Williams last saw Shawn Billbe alive. She said she misses Shawn, especially around the anniversary of his birthday — and his death — and she wonders what life would be like if he were still here.

“Now all I can do is continue speaking in hopes to keep saving and changing lives,” Williams said. “I’m grateful for the time I had with Shawn, and the memories I will always cherish, but it will never have been long enough.”