Family's Revelry Ends In Horror
Submitted by N.O.V.A. July 2005
Times Picayune 	02-26-1998


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After a day of Mardi Gras merriment, Debbie Lucas and her 13-year-old daughter were
ready to pack it in, but her husband wanted to continue the party.

An argument ensued, prompting Lucas and her daughter to step out of the pickup driven
by Robert Lucas Jr. and begin walking home. Moments later, they were both killed when a
drunken driver, a family acquaintance, ran them down, police say. Robert Lucas returned
shortly after the accident intending to pick up his wife and stepdaughter or follow
them home. Instead, he found two mangled bodies in the street.

Debbie Lucas, 38, and Sherry Teal, 13, were killed Tuesday night as they crossed East
Judge Perez Drive near Caluda Lane in Violet.

The man accused of running them down, Richard Lee, 46, 2512 Elizabeth Court, Violet,
had a blood-alcohol level of .258, more than 2 1/2 times the legal limit, said State
Police Trooper Anthony Pohlmann, who handled the accident. Already too drunk to drive,
Lee was in his 1989 Pontiac Bonneville on his way home from a convenience store where
he had purchased a six-pack of beer.

The accident happened after the Lucas family spent Tuesday watching parades on St.
Charles Avenue. Debbie Lucas and her husband of five years couldn't agree on whether to
go home or return to New Orleans. It was then the woman and her daughter began their
ill-fated walk.

"She just wanted to come home, he wanted to stay later," said Minnie Ruiz, a family
friend. "It was nothing."

When he couldn't convince them to get back in the truck, Lucas left his wife and
stepdaughter briefly to drop off his mother, also in the truck, at home nearby. He
promised his mother, Mazie Lucas, that he would follow his wife in the truck "even if
he had to go 5 miles an hour." But when he returned only minutes later, he found his
wife dead and his stepdaughter dying on the shoulder of the road, family members said.

The accident occurred about 10:25 p.m. Sherry, an honor roll seventh-grader at P.G.T.
Beauregard Middle School, was taken to Chalmette Medical Center, where she was
pronounced dead at 11:01 p.m.

Lee was charged with DWI and two counts of vehicular homicide and taken to St. Bernard
Parish Prison, where he remained Wednesday, with bond set at $101,000.

The accident occurred only yards from the St. Bernard Parish fire station where Lee
works. Fire Department officials are investigating the accident and will decide whether
Lee, a 19-year department veteran who was off duty, will face disciplinary action, Fire
Chief Tommy Stone said.

Robert Lucas arrived soon after the accident and found a grisly scene, family members
said. His wife and stepdaughter had multiple broken bones and massive internal
injuries.

"They were in the street," Mazie Lucas said. "He tried to pick Debbie up. Her legs were
broken."

Lucas sat surrounded by friends and family members Wednesday at his Poydras home. Too
devastated to talk, he occasionally buried his face in his hands and stifled sobs while
he listened to others describe his wife and stepdaughter.

Family members said Lee is well-acquainted with both families.

"He was a friend of ours," Shelley Teal said.

Ruiz said she can't help but wonder if she could have done something to save her
friend.

"This is the first Carnival I didn't spend with her," said Ruiz, who had to work and
whose two daughters spent much of the day watching parades with the victims and Robert
Lucas.

Despite the sudden loss, Sherry's 22-year-old sister and Debbie Lucas' oldest daughter,
Shelley Teal, said she harbors no ill feelings toward Lee.

"It's not so much we're angry," she said. "It's more hurt than anger."

Ruiz often cared for Sherry Teal, watching her grow into a popular student and athlete.
She considered Sherry one of her own.

"We're left behind," she said, no longer able to fight back her tears. "I don't have
nobody to look after anymore."

"You got us," Shelley Teal responded quickly, offering a hug. "You've got to keep us
alive."

The one thing the family can take comfort in is that Lucas died with her youngest
daughter, Ruiz said.

"She took her baby with her," Ruiz said. "God had her number."

Friends of the family have set up an account to help pay funeral expenses. Donations
can be made at any Hibernia National Bank.