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Crime Victims' Rights Week: Committee planning discussion of 1987 crash that claimed four lives in Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

Crime Victims' Rights Week in Genesee County will be commemorated April 7-13 with a special presentation at Genesee Community College from 8:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, April 8, examining a fatal car accident that has become a key part of Genesee County history.

"Honoring Our Past. Creating Hope for the Future" will look back on a 1987 head-on collision that took the lives of three students in Pembroke and their driver's education instructor.

The panel for the discussion includes: 

  • Sheriff's Office Crash Scene Investigator -- Judge James Orr
  • Prosecuting District Attorney -- Judge Robert C. Noonan
  • Pembroke School teacher -- Gregory Kinal
  • Family members: Deputy Patrick Reeves

Reeves is the brother of Rhonda Reeves, who was 17 the day a car driven by Lyndon Goodell, then 23, hit the car she and her classmates were in. Also killed were students Eric Hamm-Johnson, Mindy Beals, and 55-year-old instructor Patrick Collins.

Goodell, a Batavia resident who had already served a stint in prison for burglary, was eventually convicted of manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison.

A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the victims' families found Goodell and his passenger, Carol Rokicki Elder, equally at fault. Rokicki Elder gave Goodell the keys to her car and the bottle of whiskey that they shared.

In next month's presentation, the impact of the trauma will be discussed and details will be shared about how those involved were able to work through the heartbreak and also make positive changes for the future.

The cost to attend is $10; students and seniors pay $5. Make checks out to: Genesee Justice (You can write Criminal Justice Day 2019 in the memo line.)

To attend this event, mail payment by April 1 along with your name, address, city, state, Zip code, phone # and email address.

Mail to:

Genesee Justice
14 W. Main St.
Batavia, NY 14020

For more details or questions, contact Holly McAllister, of Genesee Justice, at 344-2550, ext. 3929, or email her at:   Holly.McAllister@co.genesee.ny.us

Click here for a PDF registration form.

Photo: Crime victim's week committee: Bob Riccobon, Sue Gagne, Gregory Kinal, Catherine Uhley, Kimberly Perl, Judge Robert Noonan, Undersheriff Brad Mazur, Rosanne DeMare, Assistant Chief (Batavia PD) Todd Crossett, and Deputy Patrick Reeves.

For previous coverage of the event planned April 8, 2019, click here.

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