A closer look at a tragic DUI case in Jacksonville that ended in an eight-figure civil verdict and a 12-year prison sentence.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Following a prolonged legal confrontation lasting two years, the Behr family was awarded $12.8 million in compensatory damages earlier this month after their daughter was tragically killed by a drunk driver in Jacksonville.
Monique and John Behr, who were in the process of moving from Chicago to Jacksonville to be nearer to their daughter, Nell, before her tragic passing, express that no sum of money can ever replace the emptiness now felt in their family.
“To convey a strong message to the community that incidents like this should never occur, achieving that requires a substantial verdict,” stated Aaron Davis of Davis Goldman, PLLC. “I anticipated that the verdict would amount to at least seven or eight figures.”
21-year-old Nell was at Whiskey Jax when a drunk driver, Ramon Cerda, collided head-on with her vehicle back in January 2023. Two years later, Cerda pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
“Nobody gets in their car and drives drunk thinking that they’re going to get in an accident,” Tom Scolaro of Scolaro Law said. “That’s not a thing. People do it because they think they’ll be fine; they’ll get through it and think nothing bad will happen. There’s not a large community of people that are getting in their car, drinking to cause an accident.”
The attorneys representing the Behr family, Davis and Scolaro, said in their experience, no two DUI cases are alike. However, most of the time people make the decision to drive under the influence after they’ve been drinking.
“Problems arise when you make that decision of, ‘Oh, I’ll be ok to drive’ after you start drinking because alcohol obviously impairs decision-making,” said Scolaro. “If you’re making that decision to drive or not drive while you’re drinking, you’re already making the wrong decision. The decision should be made before.”
“I will note that the defendant in this case testified that fairly consistently, he would have up to 18 drinks a night,” Davis said. “And he believed that he would be fine on the night of the incident because he only had somewhere in the neighborhood of half of that or less.”
With the Fourth of July coming up, both attorneys say to take advantage of ride share programs or plan to have a designated driver.
“Around this holiday weekend, at the end of the day, you’re talking about maybe a $20 Uber ride,” said Scolaro. “Twenty dollars versus a jail sentence, your life altered, your relationships ruined, lives ruined.”
The attorneys add to be extra vigilant while driving during holidays like the Fourth of July if you’re on the roads and to make a plan of how you’re going to get home before any substance is in your system.
