Judge Sentences Maready To At Least 50 Years In Prison

A man convicted of killing a woman in a drunken driving wreck learned his sentence Monday.

A judge sentenced Kenneth Maready to at least 50 years in prison for the death of a grandmother in a drunk-driving wreck. Maready is 42 years old, which means he would be at least 92 years old when released from prison.

It took jurors in Durham little more than five hours Friday to find Maready guilty of second-degree murder.

In February 2005, police said Maready got drunk, stole a car, fled from deputies who had pulled him over and crashed into the pickup truck driven by 61-year-old Kay Stokes. Stokes died in the accident.

"It has been a rough year -- an emotional roller coaster for me and my family," said Marcy Stokes-Henley, Kay's daughter.

At the time of the accident, Maready had a revoked driver's license and six drunken driving convictions on his record.

"I feel sorry for him because nobody deserves to have that kind of lifestyle, just being drunk all the time," said Stokes-Henley.

In convicting Maready, the jury also found him to be a habitual felon. That classification is given to those with at least three separate felony convictions.

An earlier version of the story reported that Kenneth Maready was sentenced to at least 55 years in prison. He was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison. WRAL.com apologizes for the error.