Richmond mother gets 2 months in DUI and neglect case

Sharon B. Wood admitted to years of alcohol abuse and self-medication efforts even as friends and family testified at her sentencing hearing that, by all accounts, she seemed to be a devoted mother who rarely drank.

The mother of three young children tearfully recounted years of pain when her "anxiety and depression spiraled out of control," and she told Judge Catherine C. Hammond of Henrico County Circuit Court that she cherished her family.

But Wood, 37, of the 300 block of Clovelly Road in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood, also displayed a deep scorn for law-enforcement officers and an unfathomable neglect for two of her children a year ago when she was stopped by police at the Libbie Place shopping center, a prosecutor argued.

"She needs to be punished," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Amy C. Turner. "The message needs to be sent that this is not tolerated."

"She was in no position to provide for herself and less so for her children," Turner said, referring to Wood's blood-alcohol concentration of almost three times the legal limit.

"She was slumped over the wheel and chewing on a towel and basically incoherent," Turner said. Wood was seen by a shopper and then taken into custody after being forced to the ground amid slurs aimed at arresting officers.

Wood was convicted in April of two counts of felony child neglect and one count of driving under the influence, charges that carried a maximum sentence of 11 years.

On Wednesday, her lawyer, Bart Chucker, described months of therapy and drew from witnesses Wood's dedication to sobriety and assistance to other addicted people. He asked that she be sentenced to community service and said Wood's arrest may have prevented a tragedy far more severe than what befell her a year ago.

Hammond, though, stressed Wood's deep alcoholic condition when arrested and her stated intention to police that she was on the way to pick up a third child at school.

"This is a public-safety issue," the judge said.

She sentenced Wood to three 12-month sentences, suspending all but two months on the DUI charge. Wood could be released within 30 days.

Chucker said he will appeal.

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or .