Kotzebue woman pleads no contest to manslaughter

June 17, 1993

By Michael Gerhardt
Arctic Sounder

A Kotzebue woman charged in a truck accident that killed two men and left a third seriously injured will not go before a jury for trial.

Shannon Pavil, 22, plead no contest Monday to two lesser charges of manslaughter and to one count each of first-degree assault and failure to render assistance. The manslaughter charges replaced two counts of second-degree murder that were handed down by a grand jury last December. Pavil had previously pleaded innocent of all charges.

The reduced charges are part of a deal between the state and Pavil. Now, instead of going before a jury for trial, she will be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Richard Erlich in August. In exchange for her no contest pleas, the state will argue that Pavil should get no more than 15 years in prison on all charges.

Pavil appeared in the Kotzebue court Monday to enter her plea changes. Her sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Her attorney Bob Lewis said Pavil was "uncomfortable" with a jury trial.

"I think she considered carefully the decision she made after a long time deciding whether it would be in her best interest," Lewis said.

At the sentencing, Erlich will decide whether to accept the terms of the deal. If he decides that 15 years is too little, he can send the case back to a jury trial.

Kotzebue District Attorney Max Garner said that 15 years in jail is enough.

"She's going to be well into her 30s when she gets out of jail, and into her 40s before she's off probation," said Garner.

In considering an appropriate sentence to argue for, Garner said he took into account that Pavil is a first-time offender and a mother of two young children.

Pavil was indicted last December after an accident which left two Shungnak men dead and one Kotzebue man seriously injured.

Pavil was driving along Third Street early in the morning on Dec. 6 when she struck the three men, all pedestrians. Pavil, who's blood alcohol level was above .20 after her arrest, was driving at speeds close to 50 m.p.h. when she hit the men near the 41-unit apartment building, Garner said.

The legal maximum blood-alcohol content is .10 percent.

Ronnie Tickett, 28, of Shungnak died at the scene, and Lloyd Woods, 20, of Shungnak died in the emergency room at the Maniilaq Medical Center. Lloyd Hall, of Kotzebue, was sent to Anchorage for treatment of severe internal injuries, including a broken pelvis.

Hall filed a lawsuit against Pavil in April seeking $100,000 for damages and all court costs.

Pavil was taken to the Kotzebue jail following the hearing Monday, where she will remain until her sentencing.