LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. – After calling him a danger to drivers, a Lincoln County judge sent a man to prison after he previously got a sweetheart deal for the death of an acquaintance. This follows a series of exclusive reports by FOX 2 involving a relentless pursuit of justice by grieving mother Carrie Knight.

“He took my son’s life,” Knight said in court on Wednesday. “And it’s very important for the other folks out in the community, just making sure they’re safe and he’s off the streets.”

The Knight family says Jeffery Holden got a sweetheart probation deal five years ago yet continued to drive dangerously. Holden was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a crash that killed Knight’s 18-year-old son, Nick Spencer, who was also in the car.

“Nick’s in heaven,” Knight said. “I’m here fighting for him still.”

At the time, Holden was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime, but that sentence was suspended in place of five years’ probation. Knight, meanwhile, continued tracking Holden’s behavior, which she was convinced should send him to prison.

“He’s still not following the rules,” Knight told FOX 2 earlier this year.

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The Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office agreed and revoked Holden’s probation based on both law and rule violations. Holden confessed to the charges last month, then walked into the courthouse Wednesday to learn what a new judge would do about it.

“You are doing the same things on probation that previously caused someone’s death,” Judge Jim Beck told Holden.

Beck sentenced Holden to 10 years in prison for violating probation. Nick’s family walked out of court feeling emotional.

“Everyone in this community will be safer for the next 10 years. It will not bring my grandson back, who I loved dearly. We all did,” Ed Miller, Nick’s grandfather, said. “No, it won’t bring him back, but he can’t take Nick away. He’s right here. And he’s right there,” he said, gesturing to his heart and then to the sky.

Knight believes her family’s persistence and public attention made a difference.

“I don’t think anything would’ve happened,” she said. “I think he would have gotten off his probation and nothing would have ever been done if it wasn’t for, like I said, you guys and FOX 2 News being on our side. Thank you very much.”

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