By Sonny Turner
A 38-year-old Huntsville man indicted last year for vehicular homicide following a wreck that killed a 79-year-old Lester woman and critically injured her husband began serving a 30-day sentence Saturday in the Limestone County Jail.
Michael Shane Gower, of 200 Little River Drive, plead guilty June 9 in Limestone County Circuit Court and was sentenced to a year in prison. That sentence, however, was suspended and he was ordered to serve 30 days in jail.
Although Gower was not intoxicated at the time of the wreck, he was charged with vehicular homicide rather than a lesser charge because his license had been revoked. He ran a stop sign while dialing a number on his cellular telephone, said Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls.
Gowers’ license had been revoked and he was on probation for possession and receipt of a controlled substance at the time of the May 17, 2006, wreck at Edgewood Road and West Elm Street in Athens.
The wreck killed Mary Greenhaw Elmore.
Her husband, Lester, 84, was critically injured but survived.
