- Eli Mitchell's family opposes parole for Mason Ohms, convicted of killing the 13-year-old.
- Ohms, with a DUI history, hit Eli in April 2022 in West Jordan.
- The parole board is expected to decide within a month on Ohms' potential release.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Saratoga Springs man with a history of DUI arrests, who was convicted of hitting and killing a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle in 2022 and then driving off, went before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole for the first time on Tuesday.
"I don't have an excuse. I know the choices I made that day were horrific. They were life changing. Just when I thought I had everything in my grasp and (under) control … I had a relapse," Mason Andrew Ohms told the parole board.
However, the parents of 13-year-old Eli Mitchell, who was riding his bike when he was hit and killed in West Jordan on April 26, 2022, believe that the state must send a strong message to all repeat DUI offenders in addition to protecting the public against Ohms, and told the board Tuesday that serving four years of a possible 20-year sentence isn't enough.
"Five times he was given another chance. Five times the system believed in him," an emotional Jeremy Mitchell, Eli's father, told the board while adding that Ohms didn't just "simply make a mistake" that day. His actions were the result of a "series of dangerous, reckless choices" made over many years, he said.
"The grief in our home is constant," Mitchell said. "This is our life sentence. There is no parole from it."
In 2022, Eli had just gotten his first debit card and couldn't wait to ride his bicycle to the store to purchase his favorite treats, Kit Kats and Hostess donuts.
He was riding home with his treats hanging in a bag on his handlebars and in a crosswalk at 1510 W. 9000 South in West Jordan when Ohms made a right turn on a red light and hit the young teen.
Ohms, who was driving a 2007 Chevy Silverado, was waiting at a red light to make a right turn when he "accelerated hard into his right turn, hitting (Eli) just as he entered the crosswalk," charging documents state.
He never hit his brakes after hitting Eli, the charges state, and then made a U-turn in the street and drove past others who were administering help to Eli, and kept driving. Ohms drove to the parking lot of a nearby business, got out and pulled the bicycle out from under his truck before driving to his Saratoga Springs home, according to the charges.
He parked about a block away from his house but was arrested by waiting police when he arrived home. Hours after the accident, Ohms' recorded blood-alcohol level was 0.10%, which prosecutors argued meant he likely had a level of 0.22% at the time of the crash.
The incident happened right after Ohms left a bar that he had been at for six hours with co-workers, during which time he claimed on Tuesday he drank four 20-ounce beers and bought additional beers for others. After he made the right turn and saw someone waving him down, he thought that something must have fallen off the back his truck.
"And that's when I seen someone in the road. I had no clue. I didn't even understand what happened," he told the board on Tuesday.
At that point, Ohms claims panic set it.
"As I look back … I let a lot of things just slip through. … I didn't have discipline. I ran and hid. That's all I look at (now) is my actions (that day)," he attempted to explain, saying he's had four years to reflect on what happened. "I couldn't believe it happened, that I allowed it to happen."
Ohms says he's "not proud" of his actions and that the incident was "unbecoming of who I am."
"It was the worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, yet it was me who did that. No words can describe why I left … why I left someone sitting there. ... That's not me," he said.
But board member Dan Bokovoy, who conducted Tuesday's hearing, pressed the repeat DUI offender on what will be different the next time he is in public. Bokovoy noted that even though Ohms, now 53, had no arrests between 2013 and 2022, he keeps "going back to the same behavior" after being sober for a while.
Courtney Johns, KSLLikewise, Eli's parents, Jeremy and Lisa Taylor Mitchell, both told the board they can't understand why Ohms acted the way he did and why he was given so many chances.
"I miss you so much. I miss you every minute of every day. We're doing everything to honor you," an emotional Lisa Mitchell said Tuesday, first speaking to Eli before directly addressing the board.
"I lost Eli because of this man's repeated choices," she said. "His history shows a pattern that cannot be ignored."
Jeremy Mitchell noted that 18 victim impact statements had been submitted to the board prior to Tuesday's hearing, and Eli's three best friends were in attendance for the parole hearing. He noted that he has enjoyed watching the friends get their driver's licenses, go on dates and grow into young men. But "these are moments I'll never share with my son. And it will only get harder," he said.
Mitchell concluded his comments by saying his desire to have Ohms remain in prison is "not about anger or revenge" but rather about preventing another family from suffering the same fate.
Ohms replied to the Mitchell family by reading a letter he had prepared. He apologized and called his actions "inexcusable, outrageous and morally unacceptable."
Ohms' two sentences for convictions of automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, and failing to remain at an accident involving death, a third-degree felony, were ordered to run consecutively. In total, he was ordered to serve a minimum one year in the Utah State Prison and up to 20. If he serves his full sentence, he will be released in the year 2042.
The full five-member board will now vote whether to grant parole or set another parole hearing. A decision isn't expected for about a month.
