Meyersdale SADD Club welcomes guest speaker with powerful story
The MAHS SADD chapter welcomes guest speaker, Martin Lockett.
Lockett was just 24 years old when he was in a DUI crash that claimed the lives of two women and severely injured a third person. He served more than 17 years for the crash and has since pledged his life to speaking out to others about the real and permanent dangers of driving under the influence.
Lockett said he began drinking as a young teen to “fit in” with his peers and quickly found himself spending time with the wrong crowd. Those choices led to his involvement in a burglary and subsequent brief incarceration.
“I was drinking alone and with friends and there wasn’t a day I didn’t drink. I had FOMO (fear of being left out) and thought I was handling it. I was compromising my values and those of my family. I grew up in a good home with my parents. I ended up being involved in a robbery and went to jail while I was in high school.”
Lockett earned his GED and went on to secure gainful employment. However, his alcoholism did not resolve itself and he found himself drinking again.
On New Year’s Eve 2003, Lockett began celebrating the day like most, drinking alcohol and attending celebrations. Unwilling to admit that he was intoxicated, Lockett got behind the wheel of his automobile and drove under the influence. On his way to his parents’ home, Lockett raced through a yellow light and struck a vehicle. Two women were killed and a third passenger, a man, was severely injured. Lockett described the moments immediately after the accident and in graphic detail.
“There were warnings and times I could have stopped what I was doing, but I thought I could handle it. I was young and thought nothing could happen to me. Then everything changed. I remember every second, the impact and everything after,” he explained. “I checked my car to see how much damage, it was my prize possession and then I saw a body laying on the pavement hear the car I had hit. And then I found myself in jail again. I knew this time was going to be for a long time.”
Lockett said the reality of what he had done was profound and on the day of his sentencing he pledged to do everything in his power to make his life meaningful while honoring the lives of the women he had killed. “I will never stop thinking about what those three people were thinking on that day, what they were thinking an hour before the accident, or in the minute before the impact.”
Lockett learned the individuals were returning from an alcohol-free New Year’s event. During the victim’s impact statements at his sentencing, the 15-year old daughter of one of the victims told him she had lost her mom, her best friend and would never have her at the milestones of her life. He then heard from the many who had served but with life-altering injuries.
“He told me how he had just proposed and how she had died in his arms that night, because of me,” Lockett explained. “I made a vow that day that I would spend the rest of my life to help stop this from happening to other families. I was sentenced to 17 ½ years for one night, but I had taken the lives of two people and hurt another, I changed the lives of people forever, taking away people they loved.”
Lockett remained resolute on his vow and served his time taking advantage of every opportunity to improve himself through education. He went on to earn an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree and eventually a master’s in psychology. Throughout his incarceration, Lockett never forgot the women he had killed and the man he injured or their families.
Lockett was released in 2021 and has continued to dedicate his life to sharing his story and urging others to consider the dangers of alcohol and addiction. “My poor choices cost two beautiful lives and a lifetime of hardship for another. But, no one is beyond redemption, you can still be saved.”
Lockett urged students to be aware of the real and permanent consequences of drinking and driving and the importance of making good choices.