Willis Miller sentenced to 45 years in prison, mandatory
OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The man convicted of killing a little girl while drinking and driving was sentenced to prison.
Willis Miller will spend 45 years behind bars. This is a mandatory sentence.
He will not be eligible for parole.
An Oktibbeha County jury only deliberated 30 minutes before finding Miller guilty of aggravated DUI and aggravated assault.
Paisley “Gabby” Frazier died after Miller hit the ATV she was on.
Another child was also injured in the crash.
The accident happened in April 2022 on Williams Road.
Frazier’s mother, Caprice Thompson, said the last two years have felt like a bad dream.
She’s missing her bright and joyful little girl.
However, she hoped this sentencing would bring a small amount of closure.
“It’s relief. It’s a little bit of relief. It’s not going to heal all of my pain because I will never get my baby back, and I know it’s going to be a road of recovery for my boys in the years to come. We will have to relive this again and talk about this again and for questions to be answered for my youngest son but the justice for them, I am very happy about it,” said Thompson.
“Hopefully, the loss of this girl and the mandatory sentence Mr. Miller got should be a public notice of the dangers of drinking and driving. Not only can you take a life but you could also ruin your life and you could be away from your family for a very long time. Drinking and driving is very, very serious. It’s not something to play about,” said District Attorney Scott Colom.
Colom said Miller was going 97 miles per hour and driving on the wrong side of the road when he hit the ATV Frazier and the other child were riding on.
