Nearly 10 months after a drunken driver hit two of Martha Dunmore’s daughters, killing one and and injuring the other, the mother believes her family “got some justice.”
On July 11, a Milwaukee woman who pled guilty to causing the deadly crash and driving while intoxicated received the maximum penalty for her charges. At the sentencing hearing, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge ruled Stephanie Sykes, 35, will serve 28 years in prison for the September 2024 hit-and-run that killed 20-year-old Talise Dunmore and injured her older sister De-Lisha Dunmore.
Martha Dunmore, De-Lisha Dunmore, and more than a dozen friends and relatives of the Dunmore family filled the gallery at the sentencing hearing, wearing bright orange T-shirts and bracelets — a nod to Talise’s favorite color, her mother said. They carried fans with Talise Dunmore’s picture, and distributed key chains emblazoned with a pledge to drive safe and sober.
“Now, we can start to heal,” Martha Dunmore said in an interview after the hearing, clutching a bright orange purse she said Talise carried the night of her death.
At the hearing, the Dunmore family was joined by members of a court watch group that has advocated for harsher sentencing in vehicle crash cases.
Friends and relatives of Sykes also attended the sentencing. Judge Michelle Havas acknowledged the heightened emotions at the beginning of the hearing, noting that relatives of both Talise Dunmore and Sykes had submitted impact letters to the judge in advance of the scheduled sentencing.
A criminal complaint filed against Sykes alleged she drove while drunk, and hit the sisters as they attempted to cross North 76th Street.
Records from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner estimated Sykes’ car had been traveling about 80 miles per hour when it struck and threw Talise an estimated 50 to 75 feet.
Two witnesses saw Sykes’ vehicle continue driving north after the collision, per the complaint. A Milwaukee Fire Department lieutenant later saw a woman, identified as Sykes, exit her damaged vehicle and enter a different car nearby. Police subsequently arrested her.
According to the criminal complaint, Sykes told a police detective she had been drinking that night and had “blacked out.” She was charged five days after the deadly collision on six felony counts relating to the collision and her intoxicated state.
Since 2010, Sykes had been charged for operating a vehicle while intoxicated at least three times prior to the September 2024 crash, according to her attorney. She was also convicted on prior charges relating to drug possession and possessing a firearm.
In April, Sykes took a plea deal in the hit-and-run case, pleading guilty to four counts: homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, hit-and-run involving death, operating while intoxicated causing injury and hit-and-run involving injury.
At the sentencing hearing, Sykes apologized to the Dunmore family.
“It hurts deeply to know I was the cause of this unfortunate and unexpected event,” Sykes said, through tears. “I would like to truly and sincerely apologize.”
Sykes’ attorney, Benjamin Van Severen, urged the judge to consider challenges Sykes faced throughout her upbringing and adult life — including alcoholism and domestic violence — which he described as traumatic. He recommended that she be sentenced to only 14 years of confinement.
The prosecutor advised Sykes be incarcerated, but did not quantify a specific recommendation for how many years of confinement or extended supervision.
In spoken testimonies at the hearing, Talise’s mother and older sister detailed the grief their family experienced since the crash, and urged the judge to give Sykes a longer confinement sentence.
The two spoke about Talise’s “indomitable spirit,” her commitment to excellence and her promising future as a nail technician. At the time of her death, she had graduated from a Milwaukee nail technology academy and was working at a salon in Brookfield.
“All her nail tech stuff is still in her room, just sitting there, just untouched,” Marilyn Green, Talise’s older sister, testified at the hearing.
“Sometimes we go in her room to feel close to her,” Green said. “And other times we can’t even open the door.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mother of hit-and-run victim says family can ‘start to heal’ after driver’s sentencing
Reporting by Ariela Lopez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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