BILLINGS — Brian Campbell, the man driving the motorcycle that crashed and killed his 22-year-old passenger Savanah Robinson, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in the Montana State Prison for vehicular homicide.
Campbell showed little emotion as he heard the sentence read by Yellowstone County Judge Donald Harris. Campbell's sentence included two years, served concurrently, for a felony DUI. He has previous DUI convictions.
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Campbell addressed the court before the sentence was read and offered an apology to Robinson's family.
"(I) hope with my guilty plea that Savanah's family is able to find some tiny bit of peace. My apology will consist of actions, first by accepting guilt, and by a lifetime of sobriety," Campbell said Tuesday.
But Robinson's father, Lem Robinson, who built a roadside memorial for his daughter near the Billings Logan International Airport, did not find the apology genuine.
"When you're put on a spot like that, what he said was just because he had to say it, he was just trying to get reduced. He wasn't saying it from the heart at all," Lem Robinson said.
Lem said the months since his daughter's death have been devastating.
"It's been really tough. I mean, I miss her a lot," he said.
Campbell was driving the motorcycle on Airport Road on May 26, 2005, when he missed a turn and crashed with Savanah Robinson on the back. Authorities said he had alcohol, cannabis, diazepam and cocaine in his system when he crashed.
He described his daughter as someone with an exceptional drive and future ahead of her.
"Savanah was a very bubbly, goal-driven, just work. And she was so smart. She would have went a long way," he said.
While Lem Robinson said he understood the sentence, he said he didn't think it was sufficient.
"I don't really feel 30 was enough, but that will put him at 72 years old," Robinson said.
Savanah Robinson's best friend, Colton Cain, was also in the courtroom for the sentencing.
"It feels like I've been dropped into a whole different life, a much darker one," Cain said.
Cain recalled the last day he spent with Robinson.
"The last day we had for Savanah was Memorial Day, and it's one I'll never forget," Cain said. "She left my house around 8 p.m., and within hours she was gone. She was gone so fast."
Those who knew Savanah Robinson say her presence left a lasting impression on everyone around her.
"When she bounced into a room, it made it a brighter place with her pink on, her smile, her unforgettable laugh. She was so smart and had a work ethic like no other and goals a mile long," Cain said.
Lem Robinson kept his daughter's memory alive through a large memorial near the crash site that he was eventually forced to remove. He told MTN News Tuesday that he received approval from the Billings Public Art Committee and Parks Department to relocate the memorial to Swords Park.
