AUGUSTA (WGME) -- A year after a man fell asleep at the wheel in Augusta, hitting and killing three pedestrians, including a 1-year-old girl, the driver has learned he will serve no jail time.
Two grandmothers and a baby girl died that day.
Now, the families of the victims are calling the driver's punishment a slap on the wrist.
A year ago in May, retirees Rose Jean and Barbara Maxim-Hendsbee were walking on Cony Street, pushing Maxim-Hendsbee's 1-year-old granddaughter, when they were hit from behind by a driver who admits he fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the center line.
"He admitted to being tired before he drove," Megan Peaslee, whose daughter and mother were killed, said. "He knew the consequences, as all of us humans do, of what could happen when you fall asleep."
Peaslee lost her mother, Maxim-Hendsbee, and her nearly 15-month-old daughter, Vada, who was in a stroller when Robert Santerre went off the road and hit them.
"She was smart, beautiful, adorable,” Peaslee said. “She had just begun living."
Amanda Ledoux's mother, Jean, Maxim-Hendsbee's best friend, was also hit by Santerre's vehicle and killed.
"She was just retired,” Ledoux said. “She was just starting to live her life the way that she wanted to. She has five grandbabies who miss her so much."
"Mr. Santerre is going to be admitting to all three counts," Defense Attorney Roger Brunelle said.
Wednesday, Santerre admitted, not to manslaughter, as the victims' families hoped, but to three civil infractions for motor vehicle violations resulting in a death.
"We're all shocked that this is treated as such a minor incident," Peaslee said.
"To us that's a slap in the face," Ledoux said. "Him saying, ‘I'm tired, I'm going to go for a drive,’ has zero consequences. Zero."
The families of the three victims are now pushing for a new law to put the consequences of drowsy driving right up there with drunk and distracted driving.
"When you're behind the wheel and you're tired, your reaction times are slower,” Peaslee said. “It is almost the same as being under the influence of alcohol."
Santerre faces a maximum penalty of a fine and four-year suspension of his driver's license.
Not enough, the victim's families say, for taking three lives.
"If there are more repercussions, people are going to think twice about driving tired and driving drowsy," Peaslee said.
Family members of the victims will get a chance to testify at Santerre's sentencing hearing.