'No Punishment Enough' for Deadly Hit-and-Run Driver

By PAUL ANDERSON

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - A 24-year-old man was sentenced today to 15 years to life in prison for a heroin-fueled hit-and-run collision that killed a bicyclist in Newport Beach.

Neil Storm Stephany was convicted of second-degree murder for the collision that killed 30-year-old Shaun Eagleson of Fountain Valley on Oct. 19, 2014.

Stephany, who typically would have faced a manslaughter charge, was charged with murder because of a prior conviction for driving under the influence in October 2011.

In the resolution of DUI cases, drivers are warned if they get into a deadly crash they could face a murder charge.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer to tack on four more years to the defendant’s sentence because of probation violations.

Eagleson’s wife tearfully told Paer how the collision not only killed her husband, but her long-delayed prospects for having a child. She read a “letter” to her unborn baby to the judge that described how she had battled back against celiac disease and had just been told she was healthy enough to get pregnant when the deadly accident happened.

“Stephany killed someone else that day -- the baby we worked so hard to have,” Sandra Eagleson said.

When she was 18 she was told she may not be able to have children, she said. The news made her “stop believing in miracles,” but then, “I met a boy and this one was different.”

As Eagleson proposed to her, she told him he didn’t want her because she couldn’t make him a father, she said.

“I don’t care if you can’t have a baby, we can always adopt,” she said he told her.

“We were so close to having you,” Sandra Eagleson said in the letter to the dreamed-of baby. “We were finally ready, but then something happened, something ruined me forever. Someone selfish killed you both.”

Shaun Eagleson had just started a business in Huntington Beach selling audio equipment. He was an avid music lover of every genre who enjoyed writing songs, his wife said.

Eagleson’s mother, Sylvia Zaldivar, told the judge, “Shaun was killed a year ago and it feels like yesterday.”

No punishment would be enough, Zaldivar said.

“No matter how much time this killer gets it won’t be enough,” she said. “I (expletive) hate him. I hate him.”

Zaldivar vowed to go to every parole board hearing to oppose Stephany’s release.

Stephany wrote a letter to Eagleson’s family apologizing for his crime.

“I am truly sorry for the anguish I have caused you,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility in my actions as they have been quite selfish. This entire situation pains me deeply. I can’t imagine how you feel. If nothing else, I hope the letter can bring a bit of amity. I say this from the deepest place in my heart. I hope you accept my sincere apology.”

Stephany’s attorney, Brian Gurwitz, said his client has had an “impeccable record” while in custody.

Paer said Stephany’s decision to “shoot heroin” before getting behind the wheel of the car was “mind-boggling.”

“Hopefully this case will send a message to the community that this type of conduct won’t be tolerated,” Paer said

The collision happened about 5 p.m. on East Coast Highway. The victim was riding northbound when he was struck by the defendant’s Toyota Tacoma.

Before the collision, calls were already streaming in to police about the defendant’s “erratic driving” on the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor (73) toll road, according to Walker.

After the deadly collision, police caught up with Stephany near Fashion Island, where he failed field sobriety tests and had “fresh track marks from heroin use,” Walker said.

Blood tests showed the defendant had heroin and Lorazepam in his system, she said.

He also had another drug on him that is used to help with heroin withdrawal, according to Walker, who said Stephany had intended to check into a rehabilitation facility the following day.

City News Service