Multiple DUI offender kills grandfather in recent crash - WMC Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

(WMC) - A multiple DUI offender should not have been on the road, and now a family is suffering because of it.

Grieving loved ones hope this case serves as a wake up call to others and helps save someone else's life.

A "Sons of Arthritis" type rider, his name is Thomas Holloway but he was more than that to 15-year-old Seth Bonetti, who is now grieving sudden loss.

"Well, he ... he loved us that's one thing," Seth said.

Tuesday afternoon Holloway was on his Harley on Shelby Drive heading home from work when a car trying to turn left onto Swinnea Road pulled in front of him.

"His pelvis was shattered. His shoulder was shattered. There were broken bones," Seth noted. "And the doctor's told them there was nothing they could do to stop the bleeding on his brain."

The longtime navy veteran died at the hospital.

Christopher Franklin, the other driver, is in jail charged with, among other things, driving under the influence. According to an affidavit of complaint, Franklin's license has been revoked since October 2007 after what was then his fourth DUI.

Franklin should not have been on Shelby Drive behind the wheel, which only makes it harder on a grandson who misses his Papaw.

"I know that he's in a better place, and he's looking down on us, and he wants us to be strong, and that's hard right now," Seth said.

Franklin is due in court Thursday on the charges and at the end of the month on an April arrest from driving on a revoked license.

His bond is currently set at $30,000.

Copyright 2014 WMC Action News 5. All rights reserved.