illustration: idris salaam

Last year on August 30th, Cory Kennedy crashed a car he was driving, injuring the one backseat passenger and killing the front seat passenger, Preston “P-Stone” Maigetter, the beloved Thrasher filmer. Countless memorials and gatherings for P-Stone were held following the accident, and as the anniversary of his death approached, more remembrances were popping up every day on social media.

Questions and speculation about Kennedy’s situation and succeeding legal case have been floating around the usual skate gossip channels, but it wasn’t clear exactly which charges he was facing and what kind of sentencing the court was handing down. So to clarify his situation, we looked up his court documents and summarized all the pertinent info below.

When responders arrived at the accident they found several empty beer cans in the car, and a blood test showed Kennedy’s blood alcohol level was approximately 0.10% at the time of the crash, above the legal limit of 0.08%. Tests also confirmed the presence of weed in his system.

After being arrested and released on a $75,000 bail, Kennedy was later charged with the four following counts:

– vehicular homicide
– vehicular assault
– DUI (driving under the influence)
– reckless driving

Kennedy pled guilty to all four counts, and according to a Seattle news outlet, today he was sentenced to serve four years in prison, and after being released he will serve one year on house arrest.

The publicly available documents also contained 30 letters from Kennedy’s friends, family members, and others close to him, all recommending that his sentence be reduced. Each letter is filled with personal stories to demonstrate Kennedy’s good character, and all of them are touching.

“He lost a best friend and permanently changed the course of his own life forever.”

Tony Vitello, President of Thrasher, called Kennedy “a shining light of positive energy in the skateboarding world,” and described how before the accident, Kennedy had been renting out his house on Vashon Island, WA to Maigetter and his family at a discount in order to help the Maigetters relocate from Sweden. Sam Smyth at Crailtap reminisced on his years traveling with Kennedy and Maigetter, and said, “save Preston’s family, no one was more destroyed than Cory. He lost a best friend and permanently changed the course of his own life forever.”

Kennedy’s older sister detailed his efforts to improve himself by undergoing behavioral therapy, assessing himself for alcoholism, and attending Moms Against Drunk Driving meetings. She also said Kennedy ended up giving his house to Maigetter’s wife and two young sons. “Cory, in the face of losing his career, gave them everything he had worked for in the hopes it would provide them any solace.” And while some may have noticed Kennedy is no longer listed on Nike SB’s team page, Kennedy’s sister confirmed in her letter that “he is losing his contract with NIKE.”

But perhaps the most moving letter came from Maigetter’s mother. In it, she wrote about Preston and Kennedy’s close friendship, and advocated on her son’s behalf that Kennedy not serve any prison time. “Preston would have wanted that his friend and colleague, Cory, never be imprisoned for his actions but, as an alternative, for Cory to take responsibility and to give back to the community.”

As cheesy as it sounds, us skateboarders are known for our ability to recover from so many injuries and downturns, so we’ll have to see how Kennedy’s situation turns out. But if you ever needed a reminder to not drink and drive, here it is.

Words: Nic Dobija-Nootens
Illustration: Idris Salaam
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