Feb 12, 2020 4 min read

There will be justice for Deana Eckman. At least if the Pennsylvania Senate has its way. No, it will not bring back the Delaware County woman whose life was cut short by a serial drunken driver, but it could spare another family from suffering the same agony.

The Senate voted 43-6 to approve a package of bills to toughen penalties for repeat offenders, and more importantly, make it much more difficult for them to once again climb behind the wheel while impaired.

The bill has been dubbed “Deana’s Law” in honor of Eckman.

It will increase penalties for repeat drunken driving offenders and implement new technology aimed at alerting law enforcement of possible infractions before a person under the influence can get behind the wheel.

“Less than a year ago, Deana Eckman was violently and callously murdered by an individual now convicted of his sixth DUI,” said state Sen. Tom Killion, the Delaware County Republican who sponsored the bill. “We are a major step closer to honoring her memory and better protecting Pennsylvanians from the worst of the worst DUI offenders.”

Eckman’s mother, Roseann DeRosa, spoke of the heartbreak her family has endured and their vow to seek changes in the law as a way of honoring Deana and preventing the same needless tragedy from befalling another family.

DeRosa’s daughter was killed last February by a driver who was under the influence. It was not the first offense for David Strowhouer, who was driving his pickup truck in an erratic manner when he attempted to pass another car on a two-lane stretch of Route 452 in Upper Chichester Township and slammed head-on into the vehicle carrying Deana and her husband, Chris. Deana was killed instantly; Chris was seriously injured.

It was Strowhouer’s sixth DUI offense. After being allowed to serve the sentences for his fourth and fifth offenses concurrently instead of consecutively, he was out on probation. That’s when he once again climbed behind the wheel and set off on a deadly path.

In August, Strowhouer pleaded guilty to murder in the third degree, aggravated assault and related offenses stemming from the fatal crash.

Senate Bill 773 would make it much more difficult for Strowhouer – or anyone facing multiple DUI offenses – to flout the law and drive a vehicle. It would require anyone convicted of a third DUI offense to serve that time consecutively to previous offenses, not concurrently.

The fact that Strowhouer was out on the street struck a nerve with DeRosa and her husband, Rich.

“Had concurrent sentences not been imposed on the drunk driver who took Deana from us, he would have still been in prison when she was killed,” he said.

The bill also would boost sentencing guidelines for fourth and fifth DUI offenses to five to 10, and 10 to 20 years, respectively.

The measure includes several other crucial elements, including:

• Requiring continuous alcohol monitoring devices that automatically notify officials when repeat DUI offenders consume alcohol in violation of court directives;
• Doubling the time period repeat DUI offenders must use ignition interlock devices on their vehicles;
• Directing state police, the state Department of Transportation and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to formulate recommendations for using DUI courts around the state. These courts specialize in drunken-driving cases to better focus on the appropriate sentencing and treatment of offenders.

The measure now moves over to the state House. We urge lawmakers there to quickly take up Deana’s Law, pass it and send it on to Gov. Tom Wolf.

Feb. 16 will mark one year since Deana Eckman was taken from us. How appropriate it would be if the House moved swiftly and put Deana’s Law on Wolf’s desk for him to sign on that fateful day.