OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A 23-year-old man will not serve time in prison after killing 48-year-old Donna Potkin while she was driving to work.
Logan Reed appeared at in court for sentencing Wednesday as Potkin’s family begged the judge to give him a prison sentence.
“His parents can see him every day, and we have to go to the cemetery to visit my wife,” Victor Potkin said.
It was supposed to be a day of closure for Victor Potkin, but the day quickly changed.
“Why should he be able to walk around and go to work and live a happy life?” Potkin said. “I have six kids that will argue about that.”
The drunk driver who hit and killed his wife, Donna, is headed home in plain clothes.
An Oklahoma County judge decided 23-year-old Logan Reed doesn’t deserve prison time.
Multiple people speaking before the judge claimed Reed is now a changed man.
Reed’s friends and family swarmed him after a heated few hours in the courtroom. His attorney, Justin Lowe, stopped to talk to News 4.
“Mr. Reed took full responsibility from the very beginning,” Justin Lowe said.
The deadly wreck happened in September of 2018 near NE 23rd and Air Depot.
Donna was on her way to work when Reed came barreling toward her at more than 80 miles per hour, slamming into her SUV head-on.
Donna died instantly, and Reed took a blood alcohol test and it registered twice the legal limit.
Reed has been on house arrest ever since.
“Not a day goes by without us thinking about her,” Donna’s father Roger Prater said.
But Wednesday, the 23-year-old decided to face Donna’s family, telling them he is sorry before he heard his fate.
For a few hours, the state argued Reed deserved 15 years in prison. Reed’s attorney argued back, telling the judge he believed his client has earned probation.
In the end, the judge decided Reed will serve a 35 year suspended sentence. This means he’ll avoid jail if he stays out of trouble.
He will also have to spend weekends in the Oklahoma County Jail, but just for the first year.
Reed will continue to do the Victim’s Impact Program and be randomly drug tested. However, his ankle monitor was taken off on Wednesday.
The judge cited Reed’s dedication to the Victim’s Impact Program as the reason she did not give him a prison sentence. For the past several months, Reed has been sharing his story of regret with metro school students.
“He’s had quite an impact on numerous children and people’s lives,” Reed’s attorney Justin Lowe said.
“How would he know?” Potkin said. “He got off easy. He took a life.”
