First Coast Teens Learn Lessons of Drinking & Driving
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The attendance was double this year, a sure sign that this teenage education program has hit a nerve.
It's called a STUD Rally - Stop Teen Underage Drinking and it looked more like a party at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium Thursday.
High schoolers packed the place listening to DJs from 93.3 The Beat, competing for prizes and hearing from First Coast News Sports Director Dan Hicken. Despite the fun, the message was a serious one about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Mistie Merritt says she drove drunk more than a year ago and now there isn't a day she doesn't feel overwhelming guilt for hitting and killing a mother.
"I believe I owe it to her and her family to come and speak to these young kids, and to actually everyone -- anybody that I can reach, about what happened that night," she said.
In May, Merritt will be sentenced for her crime. "And now, I'm looking at spending three to twelve years in prison. Not only that, but I have the guilt, for the rest of my life, that I have to live with," she said.
This year about 900 students were in attendance from 19 different high schools, double the amount of last year.
The STUD rally is an annual event, hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police, Longhorn Steakhouse and the Jacksonville Auto Dealers Association and First Coast News. #