GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When Paul Yon first approached the podium, he thanked everyone for coming to the courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. Then as he was about to speak, he hung his head and began to cry.
Judge Paul Denenfield told him to take his time.
“That call that night was unfathomable,” Paul said while crying, before taking a long pause. “Horrific. We walked into that room in the hospital and my daughter was laying on a table. And, I couldn’t stand up anymore.”
In late March 2022, his daughter Willow Yon, a 21-year-old art student at Kendall College, died in a wrong-way crash on US-131, near 28th Street.
“I hope you, Ashley, can make up for the value and impact that Willow would have brought to the world,” Willow’s mom Denise said with tears in her eyes. “I began thinking about this moment the first night without Willow. I stand before you a broken woman.”
BREAKING: Grand Rapids woman sentenced to 3.5 years to 180 months for a fatal wrong way crash on US 131 in March 2022.
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) March 8, 2023
Willow Yon, 21yo art student, died.
The GR woman (the driver) was charged with OWI causing death and reckless driving. // @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/LJ5nP1G5ry
Denise and Paul spoke before a packed courtroom filled with family and friends of both Willow and the driver, Ashley Rodriguez-Hernandez. At the podium, Denise was comforted by her two remaining children, Gage and Ava.
“87 miles per hour, 87,” Denise exclaimed. “The excuses you have given as to why you were driving the wrong way on US-131 doesn’t matter. You chose to drive 87 miles per hour, passing others on the highway that flashed their lights, beeped their horns and swerved out of the way. It didn’t stop you. You hit Willow head-on with such force that the engines were expelled from the vehicles.”
Willow suffered multiple injuries that night including abrasions, contusions and lacerations all over her body. Denise said that it took law enforcement 30 minutes to extract her from the vehicle.
“The scene that I see every night is the dash cam playing over and over of the cars colliding and no where to go,” said Brian, a truck driver who witnessed the crash. “And my job is to protect people and cause no harm. You know, I had a load of ethanol on. If it ruptured the tank and it caught fire, nobody would’ve walked away from this accident.”
After the crash, Rodriguez-Hernandez was charged and later found guilty of operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving.
She also spoke during her sentencing. Instead of facing the judge, she turned and spoke to the Yon family first and then to her own.
“Your daughter did not deserve any of this and for that I am truly sorry for my selfish actions that caused the loss of your daughter. As a mother myself, my heart hurts so much,” Rodriguez-Hernandez said while crying. “I will use my time wisely to become a better person and reflect on my choices so that this will never happen again. I hope you find it in your hearts to one day forgive me. And to my family I am truly sorry for putting you in this situation. I never meant to hurt you guys. And to my son who is also a victim to this I am so sorry.”
Denise told FOX 17 after the sentencing that she wished Rodriguez-Hernandez received more years behind bars.
For now, Denise said she hopes everyone will remember Willow for her artwork and her vibrancy, and that the city will make the area where the crash happened safer.
“That’s a serious concern,” Denise said. “We have a lot of students that we know living in this area and attend Grand Valley and that’s a big concern. I think Grand Rapids needs to take a look that area a little closer.”
