Driver high on heroin, cocaine, and xanax sentenced to decades in prison for killing boy

DETROIT (WJBK) - An 8-year-old boy killed by a hit and run driver found to be on heroin, cocaine and Xanax. Tuesday in court, that driver learned she was going to prison for decades.

"May God have mercy on your soul and your children because you've taken something that never can be replaced," said the boy's aunt in court.

Those words were directed at 39-year-old Kimberly Garrett, the woman who was high when she got behind the wheel of her car in June. She killed 8-year-old Kayle Fruge as he was walking home in Westland.

Garrett took off and was so high she didn't even know what happened. But the gut-wrenching reality of it all was revealed in court on Tuesday, when Garrett was emotional,  tearful and remorseful.

"I am so sorry," she said in court. "Please forgive me for what I've done."

Garrett is also a mother and back in June, she was a heroin addict. Now clean, she tearfully begged for forgiveness.

"This lady has taken something very precious away from me, there is nothing that I can do that will bring my child back. He's gone," Kayale's mother, Sequoia Fruge, said Tuesday she is heartbroken but trying to heal and trying to forgive.

"In order for me to heal from what happened to my child, I have to forgive Ms. Garrett and move on," said Fruge. "May God bless her soul."

"I hope one day to have forgiveness," said Kayle's grandmother, Yolanda Fruge. "It's going to take a while before I have that."

Kayale's grandmother also addressed the court. The judge was amazed by the grace and compassion shown by Kayale's family. However, he did not offer the same to the defendant.

"Ms. Garrett this was completely avoidable and preventable. There was no reason that this child had to lose his life," Judge Mark Slavens said in court. "I have no compassion for you whatsoever. I think what you did is horrible. You got in that car, you were so high you didn't even remember what  happened and you went out and you took away this young man's life."

The judge sentenced garrett to 25 to 50 years in prison and used the opportunity to hammer home the dangers of heroin and drug abuse.

"It shows how horrible the drug abuse is and what it does. You have now destroyed two families, ma'am," he said. "The victim's family and your own family and you will have to live with that the rest of your life."