LOWELL, Mich. (WZZM) - The Kent County Youth Fair is underway and this year's fair includes carnival rides, 4H exhibits, and a special drunk driving simulator. It's an educational tribute to a young 4H participant who lost his life when a drunk driver hit the car he was riding in.
Brody Mulnix, 8, of Sand Lake and his parents and two brothers were headed home from the annual Kent County Youth Fair in Lowell last August when their vehicle was struck by a drunk driver. The crash at M-57 and Harvard Ave. killed Brody and critically injured his brother Caleb.
"I thought he might wake up," says Brody's father Richard Mulnix. "But he gasped for air and his eyes rolled back into his head. I handed him off to paramedics and they took over."
"I knew nothing could be done," says Brody's mother Maija Mulnix.
Sponsors of the drunk driving simulator at the Kent County Youth Fair say they want people to see how difficult it is to maintain control while under the influence, and to think about Brody before drinking and driving.
"The steering gets harder and, the next thing you know, you are all over the road," explains Richard Mulnix.
"It's going to have an effect on somebody," says Maija Mulnix. "It doesn't have to be the real life drama. I don't want anybody to go through that. If this maybe saves another child it's better than what happened to us."
Stacy Rosset, 37, of Howard City is serving a two to 15 year sentence for driving drunk and causing the death of Brody Mulnix.
The Mulnix family would like the legislature to increase the minimum penalties for drunk drivers who kill.