Gulfport mother going back to prison for DUI crash that killed veteran

Feb. 21--Alicia Carmack may have thought her prison days were over after she served time for driving impaired in a crash that claimed a retired veteran's life in 2007.

Carmack had served less than five years in prison for the DUI death of James Harms, a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer. Harms was killed April 22, 2007, in Gulfport in a four-vehicle, chain-reaction crash that started when Carmack rear-ended a vehicle on Interstate 10.

Circuit Judge Lisa Dodson sentenced Carmack, of Gulfport, to 25 years in prison in 2009 and suspended 15 years, leaving 10 years to serve. Carmack served less than five years, the minimum amount required under state law for the crime. She also was ordered to five years of probation.

Dodson revoked Carmack's probation in Harrison County Circuit Court in August after an unrelated felony arrest and indictment.

Dodson sentenced her Feb. 13, ordering Carmack to serve the remaining 15 years of her original 25-year prison term, according to the Circuit Clerk's Office.

Carmack, of Gulfport, is now 31 and the mother of two.

The fatal crash was a turning point for Harms' family, his son Carl Harms told the Sun Herald on Monday. Carl Harms likened his father's death to "a life prison sentence" for himself.

James Harms was moving from Jacksonville, Florida, to live with his daughter in Hammond, Louisiana. He was pulling a trailer with his belongings and had his dog with him when his car was struck.

Carmack was 23 years old and pregnant in 2009 when she pleaded guilty. She gave birth in prison and was released in December 2012.

Her probation was revoked for a brief time in 2013 after Carl Harms told authorities she had posted pictures of herself partying on social media.

Carmack was pregnant again in 2015, when she was arrested on probation warrants again. The warrants were withdrawn.

What's sending her back to prison in 2017 is a grand larceny indictment in George County, where she and two men are accused of stealing a lawn mower from a county barn. They were arrested in March 2016. The case has not yet been prosecuted, but the indictment was enough to revoke her probation.

"My hope is that after she finishes this prison term, she will do something positive for herself and the community, but for now she has to pay the price," Carl Harms said.

After his father's death, he met Saucier residents Bill and Julie Downs, co-founders of Advocates for Victims of Impaired/Distracted Driving.

In 2016, the couple co-authored "Grief Diaries: Loss By Impaired Driving," the first of several they've co-written in the "Grief Diaries" series. Carl Harms is one of 17 victim survivors who wrote about their lost love ones in the book.

Carl Harms is a victim advocate for the state prosecutors in Jacksonville, Fla., and founder of JAX Impact, an educational awareness program.

Robin Fitzgerald: 228-896-2307, @robincrimenews

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