Driver sentenced for crash that killed two people

THOMPSON FALLS — Lance Pavlik was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday for a drunk-driving crash that killed two people and injured two children in September 2012.

Sanders County Judge C.B. McNeil delivered a 30-year sentence with 20 years suspended for two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal endangerment. 

The Sanders County Courthouse was filled to capacity for the sentencing, with dozens of people left waiting in the hallway.

After the sentence was handed down and the crowds flooded from the courtroom, tears were seen streaming down the faces of some of those who attended.

Some people wore shirts showing photos of Christina Jackson and Jeremiah Bennett and the word,  “remember.” 

Jackson, 23, and Bennett, 32, of Thompson Falls, were killed in a two-vehicle head-on collision Sept. 8 on Prospect Creek Road in Thompson Falls. 

Pavlik, driving a pickup truck, had a blood-alcohol level of .245 — more than three times the legal limit — at the time of the crash.

Pavlik, a prominent member of the Thompson Falls community, vice-chairman of the Thompson Falls School Board and the former Thompson Falls golf coach, pleaded guilty to four felony counts in January. 

Bennett’s children, Mya and Abel, also were injured in the crash.

Abel, 2, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment. 

Mya was treated at Clark Fork Valley Hospital as was Pavlik.

The initial emergency call reporting the crash came in at 11:37 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8. Two ambulances were dispatched to the scene and transported the victims to Clark Fork Valley Hospital.

Shortly after Bennett was transported to the hospital, he was pronounced dead. Jackson was pronounced dead on arrival.