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Date 1/13/07
Jessica,
I honestly do not know the words that could begin to describe the sheer pain and sorrow I feel as a direct result of your actions. Plain and simple, you killed one of my best friends, my hero, my son.
At first I thought this would be a waste of time to write anything because I figured you could care less about what we felt about it. Then I had this epiphany that maybe, just maybe being a parent yourself, one day you might understand and realize what your choice on the afternoon of December 4th did. Yes, your choice to drive to an establishment to drink knowing you were most likely going to leave there with less then ideal judgment faculties that could cause the pain to the many.
You will learn hopefully sooner then later that every choice you make affects others and whether you care or not, that will inevitably come back to you. We are not in this world just for ourselves. I pray you learn that lesson sooner then later.
Justin was my hero. He overcame great physical adversity with his cerebral palsy and illness associated with severe asthma to prosper graduating from college with honors. He didn't complain about the hurdles, he faced them and overcame them. Justin was a wonderful, thoughtful, expressive and very talented person. Not just me, but the whole of society has lost a treasure that could have given us so much more.
So even if you don't care to listen to me or read this, it will be a permanent document in your growing court records of how you made the father of the man you killed feel for the rest of his life.
A great son, and a great friend is gone forever .
Carter Fujibayashi
Below from http://cjonline.com/stories/011008/loc_234759776.shtml
By Steve Fry
The Capital-Journal
A woman whose blood-alcohol was more than three times the level defined as intoxication for a motorist pleaded no contest Wednesday in the death of a Washburn University student returning home from classes in late 2006.
Jessica L. Dennon, 27, of Topeka, pleaded no contest in Shawnee County District Court to involuntary manslaughter in the commission of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving the wrong direction on a one-way road.
Dennon was convicted in the death of Justin D. Fujibayashi, 25, of Valley Falls, who was injured Dec. 7, 2006, but died three days later at The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.
Fujibayashi was injured when his car and Dennon's Jeep Liberty collided head-on at 7:42 p.m. near the K-4 highway and Interstate 70 interchange east of Topeka.
Dennon was westbound in the eastbound lanes of K-4 when she struck Fujibayashi's 1998 Chevrolet passenger car as he was driving eastbound on K-4, said Karen Wittman, senior assistant district attorney.
Fujibayashi was extracted from his car, then taken to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center before being transported by air to KU hospital.
Dennon was transported to St. Francis Health Center, where blood was withdrawn from her arm, Wittman said in court. Within two hours of the wreck, Dennon had a blood-alcohol level of 0.25 percent, Wittman said. A motorist is intoxicated if his or her blood-alcohol level is 0.08 percent, according to Kansas law.
The manslaughter conviction is a felony and carries a minimum prison sentence of 38 to 43 months, District Judge Thomas Conklin told Dennon.
During the plea hearing, Dennon told Conklin she was taking prescription medicine for depression, anxiety, pain and muscle relaxants, but said she was alert to make decisions tied to her court case.
The victim's widow, Greta Fujibayashi, her parents, and two other supporters were in the courtroom.
Dennon's boyfriend and a second supporter sat behind her.
Dennon is to be sentenced March 14.
Fujibayashi, who had completed the requirements for a college degree when he was killed, received a posthumous bachelor of fine arts degree from Washburn in May.
Steve Fry can be reached at (785) 295-1206 or steve.fry@cjonline com.
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