Virginia mother demands prison time for son's alleged killer: 'He needs to stay there'

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Four months after her son was struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver while walking home along Broad Street, Sharon Driver is still standing at the spot where she lost him — spreading a message she hopes will save someone else's life.

Joshua Driver was hit and killed by a driver while attempting to walk home along Broad Street after missing his bus. The man charged in connection with his death, John Bruehl, faces charges of hit-and-run and driving under the influence. He is scheduled to make another court appearance later this month.

Sharon said the grief has not gotten easier.

"It just hits me in my heart," she said. "I don't feel like I'm moving forward. I feel like I'm stuck in one spot."

She said standing near Joshua's memorial and speaking out is how she processes the pain.

"I choose to use it this way because I usually bottle up my feelings and this is how I get them out," Sharon said.

She was joined Saturday by Joshua's brother Bobby and sister-in-law Abbey Puckett, who said the family hopes their advocacy can prevent another tragedy.

"It cannot happen to anybody else, but unfortunately it is, so we're trying to spread awareness to save at least one more person from this terrible thing that's happening every single day," Puckett said.

Sharon said road improvements along Broad Street are not moving fast enough or going far enough to protect pedestrians.

"They need to go up Forest Avenue all the way up Broad Street. There are plenty of people who walk up and down this street and get hit every single day," she said.

Her concerns come as Henrico County's long-term HenricoNEXT 2045 Comprehensive Plan includes 20 miles of additional sidewalks, 16 miles of shared-use paths, and 75 benches, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals. The plan also includes a $14 million West Broad Street pedestrian project to add sidewalks, crosswalks, and transit amenities from Forest Avenue to Willow Lawn.

Just Thursday, a woman was critically injured after being struck by a car at an intersection along West Broad Street in Henrico's West End.

Sharon was also joined Saturday by Sonya Duer of Operation Reflect, a nonprofit that provides reflective vests to pedestrians. Duer founded the organization after her own son Devin was struck and killed in Hopewell.

"The people that do this kind of thing, they don't realize what they leave in their wake. Families like mine and the Driver family, we have to carry this with us until we meet our loved ones in heaven," Duer said.

Duer said the roadside advocacy is already making an impact.

"To me it feels like we've at least reached these few people that we see, that honk — we at least see them and plant that seed in their mind that this is what drunk driving does," Duer said.

Both women said they want to see tougher penalties for those responsible for these crimes. Sharon said Bruehl should face serious prison time.

"I believe he needs to sit there and think about what he's doing, and he needs to sit there for years. He doesn't need to get out. He needs to stay there. He doesn't need to hurt another person," Sharon said.

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