Chris and Beth Shaw abruptly left the State Prison distraught after learning that the man who killed their son five years ago would be released two years early. 

“We were warned before we got there that there was a good chance he’d be granted parole but it’s devastating,” Beth Shaw said after the parole hearing. “Every day is hard and I think this brings us back to the very raw emotion of it all. But we move forward to honor Tyler because that’s what he would want.”

In 2019, Joseph Leonard, of Derry, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and aggravated driving while intoxicated after he struck and killed Tyler Shaw, 20, of Concord. Leonard accidentally took the wrong exit off I-89 into Bow, drove through a stop sign and slammed into Shaw’s pick-up truck traveling upwards of 50 miles per hour. Leonard, who had been charged with drunk driving twice before, had a blood alcohol content of twice the legal limit at the time of the fatal crash.

The judge sentenced him to six to 12 years in the State Prison in Concord and ruled that Leonard would be eligible for a shortened sentence, by up to six months, if he underwent drug treatment and education programs. The Shaws asked for a stiffer sentence than the agreed-upon plea deal due to their profound loss and Leonard’s criminal record.

On Thursday, Leonard, who is now 41, was granted parole with less than four years of his sentence served as a result of more than 600 days credited that were earned through rehabilitation and volunteer programs while incarcerated, the parole board explained. 

“We had a five-year plea deal and the judge rejected it and said it wasn’t enough and increased the plea deal to at least six years which he [Leonard] agreed to,” said Beth Shaw, while questioning the parole board. “They’re letting him out two years early? How can these three individuals, who are not officers of the court, overturn a conviction from a judge of the New Hampshire court system?”

As part of his release, which will happen within the next two months, Leonard will be required to undergo continued substance abuse and mental health treatment, maintain any necessary medications, continue Alcohol Anonymous meetings, secure a sponsor, withhold contact from the Shaw family and refrain from driving until driving privileges have been restored. Additionally, Leonard will remain under intense supervision for up to 90 days.

During the parole hearing, Chris and Beth Shaw read their victim impact statements to the parole board and urged them not to grant Leonard his freedom.

“Words cannot express the effect Tyler’s death had on me – we all have someone we could give our life for and I would trade my life for Tyler’s without hesitation,” Beth Shaw said. “As a mom, it is torture to live every day without my son; I will never see him fall in love, get married, become a dad or build his career. In the quiet moments, my mind wanders through all of our beautiful memories but I also can’t help but think about how his life ended and those final moments.”

“I ask each one of you, if it was your loved one killed by a habitual offender, would it be enough for him to serve four years of a six-year sentence?” questioned Chris Shaw.

When asked if he had anything to say to the Shaw family, Leonard expressed remorse.

“Being a parent myself, I can only imagine what this feels like and knowing I’m the cause of another parent losing their child, it’s something I deal with every day,” he said. “It would show complete disrespect to Tyler, his friends and his family if I were to ever consume a drop of alcohol again and on behalf of them, I have no desire to drink again.”

Beth Shaw remains skeptical Leonard will atone for his actions.

“He has repeatedly chosen not only to fail to meet the expectations of the New Hampshire law, but he’s fallen far below those expectations and it’s time he takes full responsibility for his actions,” she said. “He put himself exactly where he is today based on his continued choices to drink and drive.”

Three years after Shaw’s death, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed a law that will lengthen prison sentences for repeat drunk drivers who seriously injure or kill another person. Under the new law, which was passed in 2021, drivers with one previous DWI conviction that cause death or serious injury can now get 10 to 20 years in prison. The statute did not impact Leonard’s sentencing.

Shaw pushed for the legislation after her son’s death and wanted to help families achieve the justice they deserve.

“If I can use Tyler’s story to bring awareness then that’s what I will do,” she said in an interview with the Monitor in 2021. “It’s not so much how the system failed Tyler, it’s bringing awareness to drunk driving, and how it shatters lives. It’s important for me to try to save another parent from going through this.”

Shaw was a 2015 graduate of Concord High School. He loved fishing, traveling and spending time with his friends and family, Beth Shaw said. He had plans to move to Montana a few months before his death to start his own HVAC plumbing company with his best friend.

Before he died, he made a list of 30 goals he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime: become a millionaire, invest in stocks and bonds, build a house, travel, hunt, own land, donate to land conservation.

“I don’t know how many 20-year-olds make a list like that but he knew where he wanted to go and he worked really hard on himself on how he was going to get there,” said Beth Shaw. “That’s the devastating part; he had mapped out his future and was so excited.”

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