A judge answered a grieving family’s call for a tough penalty Tuesday when he ordered the maximum sentence of one year in jail for a Lawrence man who killed a mother of three in a head-on wreck on U.S. Highway 40.

But the sentence wasn’t strong enough for crash victim Tisha Downing’s husband. He said in the District Court hearing that if he could set the penalty for defendant Charley R. Davis, it would be to have every bone in his body broken — a punishment similar to what happened to his wife.

“I finally found an individual, in you, who merits hatred,” Ron Downing said. “I have given the children the authority to use the word ‘hate’ when it refers to you and only you.”

On Dec. 4, 2002, Davis, a farm-implement store employee, was trying to pass several cars in an uphill no-passing zone. At the crest of a hill, Davis, then 18, struck a minivan driven by the 31-year-old Downing, whose 6-week-old daughter, Francesca, survived the wreck with minor injuries. Ron Downing is now raising Francesca, known as “Frankie,” with help from family members.

“I’ve not forgiven myself for what has happened, and I never will,” Davis, now 20, said in court. “I wish Tisha was still alive and that I was the one that died.”

Tisha Downing was a secretary at Eudora High School who had two older children before she married and had a child with Ron Downing. The two older children have now moved in with their biological father, family members said.

Her relatives were frustrated earlier this year after a bench trial in which Judge Robert Fairchild found Davis not guilty of felony involuntary manslaughter and convicted him of vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor. Fairchild found that Davis’ actions didn’t meet the legal definition of “recklessness.”

But Downing’s family members smiled and hugged each other Tuesday after hearing Fairchild’s sentence. Fairchild ordered Davis to report to the Douglas County Jail on June 1 to begin serving his sentence, a delay that might allow him to garner the credits he still needs to earn his Lawrence High School diploma.

The judge said he might consider allowing Davis to be paroled early, but he wasn’t ready to do that Tuesday.

Charley Davis, 20, expresses remorse for causing the Dec. 4, 2002, head-on collision that killed Tisha Downing, 31. Davis was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail for vehicular homicide.

“This is a very serious crime,” he said.

Davis’ special-education teacher, youth minister, therapist and father spoke during the hearing, saying no good would come from putting him in jail. Defense attorney Patrick Nichols had argued that Davis deserved probation.

“We sympathize greatly with the victim’s mother, father and husband and regret that the court was compelled to overlook the evidence from the school, the church, the therapist and the family of Mr. Davis,” Nichols said.

6News video: Lawrence man sentenced for fatal accident Ruling on U.S. 40 death disappoints husband (02-13-04) 6News video: Victim’s family unhappy with driver’s conviction (02-13-04)

— 6News anchor/reporter Janet Reid contributed information to this article.

Ron Downing, Tisha Downing's husband, is comforted by his mother, Pat Downing, after Tuesday's sentencing of Charley Davis.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical workers carefully remove Charley Davis from the truck he was driving, which collided head-on with a minivan driven by Tisha Downing. Downing died in the Dec. 4, 2002, wreck, and Davis was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail for vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor.