NEED TO KNOW

• A 2021 drunk driving crash in Missouri killed a couple and their infant, leaving two boys orphaned — their grandmother created Bentley’s Law to force offenders to pay child support
• Six states have passed versions of the law and a Tennessee family has already received payments, but Missouri has failed to pass it despite years of effort and no opposition
• The first officer on scene that night was himself orphaned by a drunk driver as a child — he now testifies alongside the family at the state capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (TDR) — On the night of April 13, 2021, a drunk driver rear-ended a car on Highway 30 in Jefferson County, Missouri. The crash killed Cordell Williams, 30, his fiancée Lacey Newton, 25, and their 4-month-old son, Cordell Williams II. Both cars veered off the highway, struck multiple trees and burst into flames.

Two young boys survived. Bentley, then 4, and Mason, then 2, lost both parents and a baby brother in a single night. Their grandmother, Cecilia Williams, took them in — and started fighting for a law.

“I made a promise that day I visited the crash site. I made my son a promise I was not going to allow this to happen to some other family, and if I can find a way to create a change and bring awareness, that’s what I’m going to do.” — Cecilia Williams

Bentley’s Law Missouri Push Enters Fifth Year

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The idea behind Bentley’s Law is straightforward: if a convicted drunk driver kills a child’s parent, the offender must pay child support to the surviving children. Payments begin one year after release from prison and continue until the child turns 18 — or 21 if the child pursues secondary education.

State Sen. Mike Henderson has carried the bill since the crash. It was first introduced in 2022 but has failed to pass every year, running out of time in each legislative session despite having no formal opposition.

“I just think that this is the right thing to do.” — Sen. Mike Henderson

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The current legislation — Senate Bill 1135 and House Bill 1910 — had hearings in both chambers on Feb. 26. The family said it is hopeful 2026 will finally be the year Missouri gets it done.

Williams testified before lawmakers, pointing to families who face impossible financial decisions after losing a parent to impaired driving.

“There is one person in particular I spoke to, and the crash that killed her loved one left behind a child. That child had to be put into foster care because she couldn’t afford to take care of it. That’s not fair.” — Cecilia Williams

Six States Have Passed What Missouri Cannot

The cruel irony of Bentley’s Law is that it has succeeded everywhere except where it started. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, six states have enacted versions of the legislation:

Tennessee was the first, signing “Ethan’s, Hailey’s, and Bentley’s Law” on May 25, 2022. The law was renamed to include the surviving children of Tennessee police officer Nicholas Galinger, who was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver. A family in Tennessee has already received child support payments under the law — the first in the nation.

Kentucky signed “Melanie’s Law” in April 2023, expanding the concept to include children whose parents were severely and permanently injured. Texas passed HB 393 in June 2023, with the bill passing the Texas House 143-0. Maine followed in June 2023, and both Utah and South Dakota signed their versions in March 2024.

More than a dozen additional states have introduced or are drafting similar legislation.

The Officer Who Saw Himself in Those Boys

Among the most powerful voices supporting the bill is Sgt. Cody Umfress of the Byrnes Mill Police Department, who was the first officer on scene the night of the 2021 crash. What lawmakers may not have expected was the personal connection he brought to his testimony.

“My parents and brother were killed in a crash, and I think seeing Mason and Bentley at such a young age, I kind of saw myself. That’s one of the things that hit home with me at this crash. I saw so much of myself in those boys and understood exactly what they were going through.” — Sgt. Cody Umfress

Umfress told legislators that the emotional toll on first responders compounds the policy urgency.

“It weighs on us. It weighs on all the first responders. These types of crashes are preventable. If they didn’t get behind the wheel impaired, this never would have occurred.” — Sgt. Cody Umfress

The Conviction That Started It All

The driver, David Thurby, was arrested at the scene and charged with three counts of DWI resulting in death. His trial in January 2023 was complicated when a state trooper admitted to storing Thurby’s blood samples in an unrefrigerated locker for two weeks before they could be tested.

A Jefferson County jury convicted Thurby of three counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter — a lesser charge than the original DWI counts. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with two terms concurrent and one consecutive.

Cecilia Williams told reporters she was relieved by the verdict, but the sentencing underscored the gaps in accountability that Bentley’s Law is designed to address. Thurby serves his time. The boys live without parents. And under current Missouri law, there is no mechanism requiring the person responsible to contribute a single dollar toward raising them.

What Critics Say — and What the Numbers Show

Bentley’s Law is not without questions. Implementation challenges in Tennessee have revealed confusion among courts and lawyers about enforcement, particularly when offenders lack the financial means to pay. Some legal experts have also raised concerns about whether families can collect both insurance settlements and court-ordered child support for the same incident.

Arizona state Rep. Selina Bliss, who introduced a version in her state, argued that the law’s deterrence value matters as much as the financial mechanism — tying long-term consequences to a decision that kills.

The scale of the problem is not in dispute. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash in the United States every 39 minutes. Missouri ranks ninth in the country for DUI cases, per MADD data.

“MADD supports Bentley’s Law and similar bills that hold drunk driving offenders accountable. Too often, offenders are able to move on with their lives even after killing someone, while victims and survivors are reminded every day of their loss.” — Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Bentley is now 9. Mason is 7. Their grandmother still comes to Jefferson City every year.

If six states can pass Bentley’s Law with no organized opposition, and a Tennessee family is already receiving payments, what explains a five-year legislative stall in the state where the tragedy happened — and what does it reveal about how bills without political opponents still fail?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from KCTV5, First Alert 4, KSDK, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Daily Journal, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, KY3, Local Memphis, the Branch & Dhillon law firm, and Enjuris.

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