A Kanawha County
Jennifer Garretson, 35, was
remanded to Lakin
Correctional Center
Before he handed down the sentence,
Garretson’s victim, Sgt. Aaron Nichols, took the stand to make a victim impact
statement.
“She continues to fail to accept
responsibility,” said Nichols.
Garretson confessed earlier this
year to shoplifting from the Goody’s Store in St. Albans
on Jan. 31, 2012. Nichols, who was not in uniform at the time, tried to stop
Garretson. She got into her car, put it in reverse, struck Nichols and then
fled. She turned herself in to police two days later.
“Ms. Garretson chose to steal. She
chose to run. She chose to hit me with her car. She chose not to stop to let me
off the back of her car. And she decided to throw me from her car,” Nichols
testified.
Also taking the stand was
Jennifer’s mother, Sharon Harris, who was in a wheelchair and on oxygen. She
described her daughter as a “good girl.” She said Jennifer never meant to hurt
anyone.
Garretson also spoke on her own
behalf telling the judge she made some bad choices.
“I’m an educated individual but I’m
also an addict,” she admitted.
Garretson said she became dependent
upon pills while working as a state counselor with abused children. At one
point Monday she turned to apologize to Nichols and said, “I’m telling you Mr.
Nichols, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you or your family.” The trooper,
however, refused to look at Garretson as she spoke.
Garretson said she has a set of
goals for her incarceration.
“No matter what, I plan to spend
the next two years there in [drug] treatment to change myself,” she said.
Judge Stucky decided not to grant
leniency.
“Said sentence is to run
consecutive to and not concurrent with the sentence imposed by this court.”
Despite that sentence, Nichols, who
has returned to the job, said it won’t give him back his sense of taste and
smell as well as hearing he lost in the collision.
Garretson will be eligible for
parole in 2014.
