Father wants public’s help in keeping drunk driver who killed his son behind bars

A father whose son’s life was cut short by a drunk driver wants the public’s help to make sure the man responsible serves his full time in prison.

Randall King says his 18-year-old son Derek was coming home from a graduation event with two of his buddies in June of 2010 when the car they were traveling in stalled on the freeway. As the boys were on the phone with the Washington State Patrol reporting their situation, their car was hit by another driver on the road. Derek and his friend, Nicholas Hodgins, were killed in the crash.

Authorities determined the driver of the vehicle that crashed into the boys, Alexander Peder, 50, had been drinking. A half-empty bottle of vodka, that was purchased six hours before the crash, was found in his car. Peder had been convicted of drunk driving twice before killing the two high school seniors in June 2010.

For the crash that took the life of two boys and injured another, Peder originally received the maximum sentence, which, at the time, was 8 years. That sentence was later reduced and now, after just over four years served, Randall King tells KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson they’ve been contacted about Peder’s potential release.

“Alexander Peder is going to get out. They’re looking at doing work release for him now, which will be six months of work release and then he gets out on June 7, 2015,” King said.

He explained the Department of Corrections reached out to the families of the victims.

“They’re asking us about how we feel about him getting out on work release. I asked them the questions, ‘Will he be able to go visit family? Will he have passes to go wherever he wants?’ And he will have that availability.”

King knows they can’t do anything to extend Peder’s sentence, even though laws today might’ve led to a stiffer penalty, but he does want to see him at least serve his full term.

If someone loses a family member to gun violence, King pointed out the killer might be looking at a 30-year sentence. “If he got 30 years, that would give us time to heal,” King said.

“For him to get out on work release after four years, we’re not healed yet, Dori. We still are just handling our emotions on a day-to-day basis, let alone seeing him on the street.”

They’ve expressed their feelings to the DOC, but are now asking for the public to let the department know how they feel about it.

“If you do feel outrage about it, they [the DOC] need to know that, that it’s just not fair for somebody to get out after four years, five months and get out on work release,” King said.

“So what we need, is we need the audience and we need people to write into the DOC, or call into the DOC, the Department of Corrections and let them know what is going on with how they feel about this.”

Monson said he’s worried about Peder’s potential release.

“If this guy’s got multiple DUIs, has he learned his lesson or is he going to do it again after getting out of prison?” Monson asked. “I don’t want him on the road with my daughters. I don’t want him on the road with your wife or with you or with me.”

If you’d like to reach out to the Department of Corrections regarding this case, you can reach them via email at: doccorrespondenceunit@doc.wa.gov.