RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Tracy Gordon has been sentenced to 10 years — the maximum time — for reckless homicide on the fourth anniversary of a Lake Murray fatal boat crash.
It was a very emotional day in court as Gordon's friends and family showed up to ask the judge for leniency. The victim's family, however, asked him to impose the maximum year sentence.
"My father was ripped to shreds in front of me. I can't even explain the horror of that," Morgan Kiser said about Sept. 21, 2019, when she was on a pontoon boat with her parents. "I've looked it up on the internet to try to come to terms with it, but nothing is as gruesome. I can't find anything as gruesome as what I saw that night. What I held for an hour while I tried to piece back together my mom's leg."
68-year-old Stan Kiser was killed in the crash when the boat Gordon was driving T-boned with the Kiser boat. Shawn Kiser, Morgan's mother, had her leg amputated, and Morgan suffered a head injury.
"Stan was slaughtered, and my legs were butchered," Shawn said, sobbing in court. "Forever my children will be without their father. Forever, my husband will be dead. And forever, I will have difficulty walking because of my amputation."
Sloan Kiser was getting ready for her wedding, which was scheduled for two weeks after the crash.
"Instead of walking down the aisle in my father's arms in a white dress, I walked down an aisle behind his casket dressed in black," Sloan told the judge. "There isn't a day that goes by where it doesn't force itself into my mind and make me question if mental peace will ever be something that I can experience again."
To Sloan, Stan was more than a father, she told the judge.
"I lost my best friend. We talked every single day. He was the best conversationalist, always so eager to hear about new things and to learn new things," Sloan said, crying. "He was my trusted advisor. He seemed to always know at least a little something about everything. And these years have been so hard and so scary without him because I've lost the person who I could ask advice of."
It's why the family asked the judge for 10 years in prison for reckless homicide, while Gordon's friends and family asked for leniency.
"He does not deserve the max sentence. He's too good of a person," Gordon's stepson told the judge. "We finally got a dad in our lives, I don't want to lose him."
"He is a good man. He loves God. He is a good father. He is a good coworker and he's shown that over all these years," Gordon's coworker added. "He's got an impeccable background. There's not anybody outside of this incident that can stand up and say Tracy's not a good man."
Ultimately, Taylor sentenced Gordon to 10 years, citing the blood alcohol tests that the jury couldn't see due to a technical issue with a search warrant.
"That was completely a death blow," Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victims Services Manager Kimberly Cockrell, who has been working with the Kiser family, said. "A second one to Stan Kiser."
"You were impaired that night. Very impaired by some measures," Judge Heath Taylor told Gordon. "But you got lucky with that search warrant."
The jury found Gordon not guilty of two counts of felony boating under the influence, each carrying a maximum 25-year sentence.
"He should have had a 25 year sentence. I'm just thankful that he got the 10 year sentence because he's already doing less time than he should be doing," Morgan Kiser told media after the sentencing. "The jury was not able to see our evidence. We weren't able to get actual full justice because the jury did not know the evidence and I feel like changes are going to be made so that maybe next time there's a trial or a case like this, the evidence will actually be submitted."
Gordon's defense team said they were "prepared to challenge" the breath test report if it had been submitted as evidence.
"There would have been evidence probably from the state about what we call a retro analysis and frankly my opinion has always been that that is voodoo science," Joe McCulloch said. "We had experts prepared to deal with that as well. But it did not come into evidence."
Gordon's defense team also challenged the idea that their client didn't show remorse.
"We've seen it," McCulloch said.
"Seen him cry a lot," Jack Swerling said in agreement.
"I think he may have been inartful in expressing himself to the Kiser family, but I think he is very sad about this terrible tragedy for them," McCulloch added. "We have great sympathy for the Kiser family. They have made a marvelous contribution to the state in the enactment of the boat safety laws."
Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson acknowledged this impact after the sentencing.
"Hopefully the message is sent that people will hear this and understand that they have a duty when they get behind the wheel of a boat or a vehicle of any sort, when you're drinking you need to make different decisions. And this decision that Tracy Gordon made has irreparably changed their lives but they're strong and good things have good things have come as a result of that tragic day," Gipson said. "There's boating legislation that the family has been instrumental in getting passed and that matters. That matters. So the prayer is that the legacy of Mr. Kiser can grow from this and that everyday they'll be stronger and they can tell that story even better and exponentially the change and the good that can happen out of this tragic event exponentially can affect people in South Carolina and even beyond the borders."
Right before his sentencing, Gordon did turn to the Kiser family to speak with them directly.
"Prayer to the Kiser family," Gordon said. "Angie, my wife, has said we do pray for you guys and every single day we will continue to do that."
Gordon's defense team said they plan to file a notice of intention to appeal after seeing what their client believes is the best course of action.