Hit and run driver gets to 2 to 6 years in prison

A Point Lookout man who pleaded guilty last year to vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving charges following the hit and run death of New York City school teacher and Long Beach resident David

King was sentenced on Friday to two to six years in prison.

Shawn Gallivan, 23, pleaded guilty last August to first-degree vehicular manslaughter, aggravated DWI and leaving the scene of a fatal incident after he struck 53-year-old King in 2009.

Nassau County Court Judge John Kase handed down the two to six year sentence, in a room packed with family and friends of both Gallivan and King who were overrun by emotion and sadness.

“It’s not an easy thing for anyone,” Kase said, having noted before the sentencing that it would be an emotional day. “This is an extremely difficult decision.”

Before the sentence, King’s son, Michael, spoke and asked that Judge Kase make a fair decision, even though he said it would be a lose-lose situation for both parties.

“He loved helping people,” Michael said, at times finding himself chocked up and in tears when speaking of his father. “He was a good guy. He was a giver. He deserved a better fate than what he got.”

Though Gallivan was facing three to nine years in prison, Dennis Lemke, Gallivan’s attorney, asked Kase that the sentence be reduced.

“There needs to be some punishment,” Lemke said before Judge Kase. “The judgment he exercised that day is going to cost him. [But] he has no prior history,” he said, describing his client as a compassionate and genuine individual.

Every available seat was filled Friday morning in Nassau County Court, where family and friends of Gallivan, and members of King’s family, gathered for what would be an emotional and wrenching sentencing.

While those within the room whispered among one another and shed tears even before the sentencing, others crowded around outside the courtroom, awaiting Gallivan’s sentence.

A half-hour later, Kase handed down his decision.

“Today’s sentence will not change what happened to Mr. King, or alleviate the pain this tragedy has caused his family and friends,”

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “It is my hope, however, that this case serves as a constant reminder to all of us about the danger and violence that drunk driving causes.”

The case made headlines after King, who had worked as a New York City schoolteacher for 31 years, was found lying in the street on Oct. 17, 2009 for approximately seven minutes before he was found by a Long Beach Fire Department EMT.

According to Rice, at about 3:10 a.m, Gallivan was driving east on East Broadway in Long Beach with a female acquaintance when he struck King, who was crossing East Broadway, going north.

Gallivan, who had spent the night drinking at a friend’s house and at the Tiki Bar prior to the incident, Rice said, immediately left the scene of the crash, dropped off his passenger, and went to a friend’s house.

At 5:37 a.m., Rice said, Gallivan’s female passenger reported the crash to police. Gallivan was arrested later that morning by Long Beach police officers.

Police found Gallivan’s car at the friend’s house with a shattered windshield, Rice said. Gallivan’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was estimated to be .22%, almost three times the legal limit.

Chief Maureen McCormick of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau is handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office.