BAY MINETTE, Alabama – A 29-year-old Robertsdale man was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison following his conviction of murder in the death of a 68-year-old Robertsdale woman.

According to reports, Mark Howard, 29, of Robertsdale, spent the day drinking before getting behind the wheel and crashing into another driver, killing 68-year-old Wanda Lougue Luttrell of Robertsdale.

In asking Circuit Judge Lang Floyd to impose a lengthy sentence, District Attorney Hallie Dixon said, “Mr. Howard’s remorse appears to be genuine, but it is a day late and a dollar short. He was arrested for driving under the influence in 2004, 2007 and 2009, and had just finished serving a six-month sentence for the 2009 DUI conviction when he got behind the wheel drunk and with a suspended license and killed Ms. Lutrell.

“We have every reason to believe that if he is released from prison too soon we will be rolling the dice with the life of every driver in Baldwin County.”

Lutrell’s daughter, Betsy Trawick, and son-in-law Wesley “Buddy” Trawick spoke to the judge prior to the sentence being imposed.

“It’s been hell,” said Betsy Trawick. “Every day, I think, ‘I’ll call Mom and talk to her about that,’ but I can’t. I lost the most important person in my life.”

“Our family’s heart is broken and that part will never mend,” said Buddy Trawick. “My daughters, sons and grandbabies are without a grandmother.”

Dixon, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Patrick Prendergast sitting second-chair and State Trooper Kevin Johnson serving as the case agent, said she was pleased with the sentence. She pledged to send representatives to parole hearings to ensure that Howard stays in prison as long as possible.

This is the first DUI murder conviction that has been won in Baldwin County in more than a decade. “It is important that the public become aware of the very real and very harsh consequences of drinking and driving,” Dixon said.