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Central Point man gets prison for killing brother-in-law Christopher Alan Williams Thursday Jan 19, 2017 at 2:45 PM Jan 19, 2017 at 4:56 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat A Central Point man will serve more than six years in prison for his role as the driver in a rollover crash that killed his brother-in-law. Christopher Alan Williams, 42, pleaded guilty to a felony manslaughter charge and to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court for his role in the June 2015 crash that killed 34-year-old Dustin Everett Yax. At about 8:15 p.m. June 27, 2015, Williams lost control of his Honda Civic while rounding a curve on Upper Applegate Road. The car crossed a field, rolled over bushes and hit a tree, according to Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Nick Geil. Yax, a rear passenger who wasn't wearing his seat belt, was ejected from the car during the crash and died at the scene.  In the days after the crash, Yax's mother wasn't allowed to sit with her son's remains because the crash left his body beyond recognition, according to a letter Geil read in court. Geil also read letters from Yax's grandmother and brother. The three family members were unable to attend the sentencing because they live on the East Coast. A blood test taken at the hospital showed Williams had a 0.103 blood-alcohol level, above the 0.08 legal limit. Williams, Yax and passenger Zachary Dennis Spencer had attended the Battle of the Bones barbecue festival together, where Williams had been drinking, according to Geil. They drank more near the Applegate reservoir prior to the crash. Yax's mother's letter said she hasn't been able to eat or sleep normally since she lost her son. She said she's lost 35 pounds and has been hospitalized twice for health problems. "The nightmares are anguishing," she said in the letter. "You may have taken my son's life, but you'll never take away the light that was his love." His grandmother described Yax as outgoing and someone who loved working on cars and getting his hands dirty. Spencer, who was the front passenger the night of the crash, approached Circuit Judge David Hoppe, saying he didn't believe Williams was a "criminal" in the sense that he's a danger to society, and asked for leniency. "I don't think any of us used proper judgment that day," Spencer said. The Jackson County Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction team determined Williams was driving at a high rate of speed through a corner when it began rotating counter-clockwise, first into blackberry bushes before coming to a stop after hitting a tree, according to Geil. During the hearing, Jeni Feinberg, Williams' lawyer, disputed that speed was a factor based on the defense's own accident reconstruction team's report.  Hoppe sentenced Williams to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of post-prison supervision, after Williams entered an Alford plea to second-degree manslaughter, a Measure 11 charge. Hoppe also revoked Williams' driver's license. In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains he's innocent but admits there's evidence to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime. Feinberg said her client wasn't trying to minimize his responsibility, but believes the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide would have better fit his case.  Williams declined to speak on his own behalf during the hearing, and was processed at the Jackson County Jail immediately afterward, jail records show. Circuit Court records show Williams had a prior felony conviction for third-degree assault in 1995, which Feinberg said was from an injury crash caused while drag racing. He was also convicted on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants in 2003. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.