Service remembers crash victims
CHERRY TWP — “Shattered, devastated,” Cindy Carson said Monday of the loss of her son and his fiancee in a violent car crash exactly eight years prior.
“The worst part is knowing it could have been avoided.”
The driver of the car that hit Carson's son's vehicle was more than two times the legal alcohol limit for driving. He also died.
“Drunken driving needs to stop,” said Carson, 55, of Boyers.
Carson, friends and family marked the anniversary and spoke out against drunk driving at a candlelight memorial Monday night at the North Trails Public Library, not far from the crash site along Route 308.
About 50 people attended.
Carson organized the event — she said the first and last memorial — and has become a regular participant in Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a speaker at Butler County's Victim Impact Panel since the crash.
“People forget, and I want them to be remembered,” she said.
Participants at the memorial shared stories, released balloons and shared anecdotes about Carson's son, 28-year-old John Spinetti Jr., and his fiance, 24-year-old Angela Barnhart.
At the time of the deadly collision, the couple was at a pivotal point in their lives. Having just returned from a brief move to Florida, the Butler natives were looking for a new home and jobs.
They were focused and dedicated to raising their son, then 5-year-old Liathan Spinetti.
“He was the first to know. He saw it on the TV news,” Carson said, recalling the events of the night that started with pizza and happiness.The young couple dropped Liathan off at Carson's house with the intent of borrowing a truck to move belongings into their new home. On the way out the door, Carson recalls getting “the most heartfelt hug” from her son, who promised to telephone later.Carson and Liathan were playing when the young boy recognized his parents' Cavalier on the television news.“I said, 'Oh no. No way is that it,'” she said.Carson said she shrugged it off, not believing the car was truly the couple's Cavalier. But her husband, Barry Carson, on the other hand, ran out the door and had the terrible news confirmed.According to police reports, about 9 p.m. Brian Benscoter, 26, of Hilliards was driving his 1997 Dodge Neon north on Route 308 near Pry Circle when it crossed the centerline and struck Spinetti's Cavalier.Benscoter died instantly. His brother and passenger, Robert “Robbie” Benscoter of Boyers, was seriously injured but survived.Later, it was determined that Brian Benscoter's blood-alcohol level was 0.208 percent. Pennsylvania's legal limit is 0.08 percent.Brian Benscoter's vehicle also had been speeding, officials said.Carson said the collision was so violent that injuries prevented a funeral viewing of either her son or his fiance.“Thank God I had Liathan at my house,” she said.The deadly collision was nine minutes from Carson's house.“I have to drive through there everyday,” she said.She also noted that she was so traumatized by the loss that she no longer works her three jobs.“We want people to know what DUI did to our family. Liathan grew up without parents. I grew up without a son.”Liathan, now 13, has since lived with his grandfather, John Spinetti in Butler. He enjoys playing football, and “he has a lot of dreams. We try to keep him busy,” Carson said.Carson said she cannot explain why she picked this anniversary of the fatal crash over any other to hold a memorial.“People will tell you living with this type of tragedy gets easier with time,” Carson said. “It doesn't.”Although it was not a MADD-sponsored event, the organization helped Carson and provided support for it.“It is so important after working with victims of tragic events such as this DUI-related crash that the victims are remembered by name and not by number. That is the least society can do for this family,” said Traci Van Dyke-Heilman, the local advocate of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.Previously, MADD helped Carson get the couples' names on bricks in the Pennsylvania DUI Association Victim Memorial Garden in Harrisburg.
