Avoidable tragedy?

In the end, Larry and Colleen Phipps couldn’t prevent the type of tragedy they most feared and fought to prevent.

On July 29, a jury found their son, Donovan Phipps, guilty of running a red light and crashing into the car of a young man, killing him.

Phipps stands to serve 32 years to life in prison for second-degree murder, felony hit-and-run and a misdemeanor conviction of resisting arrest.

Phipps’ parents are reluctant to talk about their concerns about how their son’s case was handled, in part because “it sounds like we’re being callous to the Lugo family,” Larry Phipps said.

Juan Carlos Lugo, 21, had just returned from a Mormon mission and was mourned by his close-knit family after his death following the Feb. 24, 2003, collision at The Esplanade and First Avenue. Lugo had just dropped off his brother at Pleasant Valley High School.

“My heart breaks for the family of young Juan Lugo and for the pain our son and family endure each day,” Colleen Phipps said.

Phipps’ parents believe his conviction was unjust in part because the jury failed to adequately consider their son’s history of mental illness.

They had hoped the court would accept a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, because Phipps, 33 at the time, was in the throes of schizoaffective disorder, which led him to delusions when he wasn’t taking his medication.

“Our main problem is the logic and philosophy of the law that convicted him of murder,” Larry Phipps said. Since his son lacked intent to harm anyone, Phipps said, it would have been more appropriate for Donovan to face charges of manslaughter.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Sanderson, who prosecuted the case, acknowledged that Phipps “has some mental problems” but argued that, “He knew what he was doing on the morning of the collision, and he knew that it was wrong and he just didn’t care.

“I think justice would be served if he went away for 32 to life,” Sanderson said, adding that Lugo’s family is pleased with the verdict.

The Phippses have been known to the News & Review for more than seven years, as Colleen and Larry have been leaders of the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

The couple has repeatedly said they were worried something bad would happen if their son didn’t get help, but they never expected it would be an innocent person’s death.

The night before the collision, the Phippses had called police to report that Donovan was acting erratically, but no action was taken. “We knew he was in a crisis,” Colleen Phipps said. “We did everything we could within the law.”

Several years ago, Donovan Phipps was convicted of assault when, during a confrontation with police at his parents’ house, he threw an object out a window and struck a deputy. That “prior” weighed in on the lengthy sentence he faces.

In between that incident and the wreck that killed Juan Carlos Lugo, the Phippses said their son had been “a productive member of society, a law-abiding citizen, a mentor to others, an excellent employee and a caring and compassionate family member.”

They, along with other advocates for the mentally ill, have repeatedly pressed the county to create a mobile crisis unit and to implement a state law allowing involuntary treatment.

Phipps is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 14.

The Phippses hope for an appeal but are now in debt after mortgaging their house to pay lawyer Kevin Hyatt of Sacramento, who didn’t return the News & Review’s call for comment.