By Cody Lowe
The Roanoke Times
BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. — A 41-year-old woman from Botetourt County was sentenced Wednesday to 55 years in prison — the harshest penalty allowed by law — in the May 2010 murder of her best friend in a Mexican restaurant parking lot. Although she has consistently said she has no memory of the incident, Kimberly Eide had pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, felony hit-and-run and assault on a police officer.
Witnesses described Eide arguing with Tara Rooksberry-Tyree outside the El Rodeo restaurant on Electric Road after a lunch that included White Russians and tequila shots. Eide’s son, Donovan Winland, who had taken the two out as an early Mother’s Day present, said they were arguing over something “trivial” — cigarettes and prescription pain pills they both had been mixing with alcohol.
Winland was supposed to be driving the two, who, according to Eide, had spent the entire previous night drinking. During the argument, Winland and Rooksberry-Tyree got out of the car and started walking away. Eide got into the driver’s seat and rammed the Dodge Durango into Rooksberry-Tyree, pinning her against another car. Rooksberry-Tyree fell to the ground with extensive head injuries as Eide drove away.
Eide was arrested a short time later and has been in the Western Virginia Regional Jail since. Rooksberry-Tyree, a 28-year-old nursing assistant, died three days after the incident. For purposes of sentencing, Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge Robert “Pat” Doherty said Wednesday, Eide’s no contest plea was tantamount to a guilty plea. Roanoke County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Leach told Doherty that the family, many of whom had given victim impact statements to the court earlier, wanted the maximum penalties — 40 years for the murder, 10 years for the hit-and-run and five years for the assault on an officer.
“If you suspend time, anything less than 30 to 35 years would be inappropriate,” Leach said. Doherty, however, didn’t disappoint the family, handing out the maximum for every charge that Eide faced. In addition to the 55 years, the sentence also included her second driving under the influence conviction — 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine — and refusing a breath test — six months and $1,000. A large contingent of Rooksberry-Tyree’s family and friends hugged one another and softly cheered the sentences. The hearing featured more than two and a half hours of emotional, tear-filled testimony.
Richard Cook, Rooksberry-Tyree’s father, said that “anybody who knows the murderer, knows what kind of person she is.” Lauren Galvin, Rooksberry-Tyree’s sister, asked Doherty to “hold her [Eide] responsible so we can have some peace knowing she will not hurt anyone else again.” Shirley Damewood, Rooksberry-Tyree’s mother, described her 11-year-old granddaughter asking her each night the same “horrible question: ‘Grandma, if Kimberly loved my mom, why did she take her away from those who love her so much?’ ”
Winland and Chad Dooley, Eide’s boyfriend, testified that they didn’t know Eide as a violent person. Dooley conceded, however, that a drunken Eide tried to have him arrested for no apparent reason just a week before she killed Rooksberry-Tyree. When Botetourt County sheriff’s deputies declined to do so, she attacked them and was arrested and charged with drunk in public and assaulting an officer. She was out on bond, under orders not to drink, when the El Rodeo incident occurred.
Eide was the last person to testify Wednesday, and like many of the others, frequently had to pause to regain her composure. She insisted that Rooksberry-Tyree was her best friend and, “I still don’t believe I intentionally meant to hurt anyone.” Eide said she was in jail for days before she came out of the alcohol-induced blackout that blocked her memory of the incident. Over the past 11 months she’s been in medical isolation most of the time, receiving treatment for “social anxiety” — a fear of being in front of a lot of people — and depression.
She asked Doherty to remember that she also had a 12-year-old son and that she is committed to a life of sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous, which she began attending in jail. She also pledged to speak to school groups and civic organizations about the dangers of mixing alcohol and prescription drugs when she gets out. Doherty, however, only said, “I wish there was something I could do” to correct the situation, before pronouncing sentence.
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