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) JASON NUTTLE staff photographer Stephen and Paul Bromstrup listen as Suzanne Bromstrup pleads to Martin County Circuit Court Judge John Fennelly for a lighter sentence for her son. Stephen Bromstrup collided with a vehicle last year while speeding that killed Sarah Stone and Alexandra Quaroni. Bromstrup was sentenced to nine years.
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Bromstrup sentenced to 9 years
By Gabriel Margasak and Melissa E. Holsman
staff writers
June 10, 2003
STUART — The cell doors closed Monday night on 17-year-old Stephen Bromstrup, who began a nine-year prison sentence for drinking and driving and killing two teenage girls on their way home from the movies.
After an emotion-charged sentencing hearing that lasted more than six hours, Bromstrup was brought to the Martin County jail about 6:30 p.m. and placed in an adult cell by himself.
He will be held there until the state Department of Corrections decides where to send him, jail officials said.
Earlier in the day, Judge John Fennelly sentenced Bromstrup as an adult to nine years in the state prison system. The judge recommended Bromstrup be placed in a youthful offender facility until he is 21, then transferred to a minimum security prison for the rest of the sentence.
The judge's decision came after Bromstrup pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular homicide in the June 17, 2002, crash that killed Sarah Stone, 14, and Alexandra Quaroni, 13, and seriously injured Jennifer McKinney, 14.
"In the final analysis, I cannot in good conscious disregard the fact that two innocent lives were totally wasted," Fennelly said. "I can't disregard the manner in which this vehicle was operated and the consumption of alcoholic beverages."
Fennelly said Bromstrup has 30 days to appeal the sentence.
If the sentence stands, Bromstrup would probably serve about 7.6 years under state prison guidelines, Assistant State Attorney Bob Belanger said.
Belanger noted the fatal crash came after Bromstrup had had been drinking at a party. He said the nine-year prison sentence was necessary to send a message to other Martin County teenagers.
"I'm concerned ... 18 months from now, a group of teenagers out at the sandbar drinking beer and up walks this young man, and they're gonna say, 'well, he wasn't gone all that long. You know, I guess that's not too serious, taking two lives,'" Belanger said.
The prosecutor continued:
"But if they're walking across the stage four years from now getting their diplomas, and he's not there, and they're walking across the stage getting their college diplomas and he's not there, and they have a fifth reunion of their high school and he's not there, those kids are going to say, 'You know what, he's still not here. That was pretty serious what he did.'
"And I think we need to have some sentence that's going to carry this cohort of teenagers through milestones in their lives so that the message gets through to teenagers ...," Belanger said.
"If we can't send a message to those teenagers, you send a message to the parents so that they keep the keys away from them ... so that they don't let them go out and get alcohol and drink, so that they don't let them leave parties where alcohol has been served and drive a car."
The prison sentence led to an outburst in the court hallway as Bromstrup's father, Paul, approached Jennifer McKinney, who had urged the judge to impose a heavy sentence on his son.
"Thank you, Jennifer!" Bromstrup boomed at McKinney, who burst into tears and went into the arms of a loved one.
Paul Bromstrup was restrained and led away from the anger of the girl's friends and family.
That final drama punctuated an emotional day of tearful eyes and agonizing words.
Scuffles almost broke out among more than 100 who had gathered more than an hour before the hearing began. Several sheriff's deputies were forced to control people outside.
After the sentencing, friends and family on both sides wept, and some reacted with anger.
"They were yelling obscenities at us," said Leila Worrell, 16, a friend of both Sarah Stone and McKinney, referring to a group of about 10 to 15 of Bromstrup's friends who attended the sentencing. "It was just ridiculous.
"They're trying to blame us for his actions," said Bathylle Salard, 17, another friend of Stone. "It's his fault."
Salard and Worrell, and Salard's sister, Alexandra Bizot, said they did not understand why Bromstrup's friends and family were upset with them and McKinney.
At least, they said, Bromstrup's friends and family will see him again.
"He took two people out of this world," said Bizot, 11. "His friends get to see him after nine years. We don't get to see Sarah and Alex again."
- gabriel.margasak@scripps.com
staff writers Michael Samuels and Dwayne Robinson contributed to this report.