Man sentenced to a year in jail for BUI that killed friend

Evan Hamilton

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN Editor

A Tallahassee man involved in a boating accident off St. Marks in 2019 in which a friend was killed after being thrown from the boat was ordered to serve 11 months and 29 days in the Wakulla County Jail for Boating Under the Influence Manslaughter.
Wakulla Circuit Judge Layne Smith accepted the plea deal between Evan Hamilton and the state and held the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Oct. 5.
Hamilton was 21 years old in February 2019 when he and two friends were boating in St. Marks and Hamilton, who was operating the boat while drunk, caused the three to be thrown overboard. The unoccupied boat was running in a circle and the propeller struck Heath Bohannon and killed him. Another passenger on the boat held onto to Bohannon’s body for fear it would sink and be lost.
When Hamilton was brought to shore, his blood alcohol level was reported at .138 and .140. A level of .08 is considered intoxicated in Florida.
At the hearing on Thursday, family of Bohannon – his mother, sisters, father, and his then-girlfriend – gave emotional testimony to the court about the impact on their lives of the loss.
Hamilton spoke to the court about how he had tried to be a credit to his friend’s memory over the past 4 1/2 years – going to school and improving himself. He did briefly apologize to the Bohannon family, but it was somewhat tone deaf.
Wakulla Chief Prosecutor Jon Fuchs, in his last case before taking leave from the state attorney’s office, stood up after Hamilton’s comments saying, “I heard a lot, but I didn’t hear him take responsibility and apologize.” Fuchs added that he couldn’t do it, but wanted to withdraw the plea deal because he was so irritated by the lack of apology.
Even Judge Smith commented that Hamilton “needs to work on his apology skills.” The judge added: “You could have done a lot of good with a hearfelt apology to these people you have hurt,” motioning at the Bohannon family.
In addition to the jail sentence, Hamilton was ordered to serve 2 years of house arrest followed by 12 years of probation with no alcohol and the condition that he perform 50 hours of community service every year with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to talk about his experience.