Illustration: Bentley and Mason’s Law. The featured image is symbolic and does not depict Cecilia Williams or her family.
A Missouri grandmother who lost her son, his fiancée and their baby grandson in a drink-driving crash has helped secure a new law requiring certain convicted drivers to financially support children left without a parent.
Bentley and Mason’s Law came into force in Missouri on 28 August 2026, more than five years after the crash that prompted Cecilia Williams to begin campaigning. Named after her two surviving grandsons, it allows a court to order child maintenance from a driver convicted of a qualifying drink-driving offence that caused a parent’s death.
The family tragedy behind the campaign
On 13 April 2021, Cordell Williams, 30, his fiancée Lacey Newton, 25, and their four-month-old son, Cordell Williams II, died after their car was struck on Highway 30 in Byrnes Mill, Missouri.
The couple’s two older children, Bentley and Mason, were left without their parents. Their grandmother, Cecilia Williams, took on their care.
David Thurby, the driver responsible for the collision, was found guilty in January 2023 of three counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to reporting by the local Leader newspaper and First Alert 4.
Williams began pressing lawmakers to recognise not just the criminal harm caused by fatal drink-driving, but the financial consequences for children whose parents are killed.
After repeated attempts to get the legislation through Missouri’s General Assembly, she welcomed its passage in 2026. Speaking to the Leader, she said: “It’s about time, we have fought hard for four years in Missouri.”
What Bentley and Mason’s Law actually does
Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 454.1050, the surviving parent or guardian must petition the court. Where the legal conditions are met, the court orders the convicted driver to pay maintenance to the affected child or children.
- Who qualifies: children whose parent or guardian was killed by a person convicted of, or who entered a guilty or no-contest plea to, specified drink-driving offences, provided a petition is made.
- How much is paid: the court considers the child’s needs, the surviving family’s circumstances, childcare costs and other factors. There is no universal fixed amount.
- How long it lasts: generally until the child turns 18, with qualifying school, vocational or higher education allowing payments up to age 21. Specific disability-related circumstances can justify a longer period.
- What happens if the driver is imprisoned: if unable to pay while incarcerated, the person has up to one year after release to begin payments, including any arrears.
Payments are not automatic and are subject to court proceedings. The legislation also addresses how maintenance interacts with civil damages and insurance payments, so families should not assume they can collect the full amount of each independently.
Missouri joins a wider movement
Missouri was not the first state to adopt this approach. Cecilia Williams’s campaign helped inspire versions elsewhere, including Tennessee, while other states subsequently introduced or enacted similar legislation.
In Missouri, Republican state senator Mike Henderson sponsored Senate Bill 1135, which passed the Senate by 29 votes to none and the House by 127 votes to two. Governor Mike Kehoe signed the measure on 13 July 2026. Related provisions also passed in House Bill 1740, and the state’s published statute records the merged legislation.
The measure’s passage was reported locally months before the social-media post now circulating. Its arrival into force on 28 August is the newer development.
Will the law benefit Bentley and Mason themselves?
That is an important distinction. The crash involving their parents occurred in 2021, while the Missouri law took effect in 2026. The statute does not expressly provide for retroactive application, and Fish 4 News has not verified any maintenance order made in relation to their family’s case.
The documented achievement is therefore the law itself, rather than proof that the boys are receiving payments. Its intention is to give other bereaved families an additional route to financial support in qualifying future cases.
For Cecilia Williams, the campaign has turned a devastating personal loss into a legislative change that carries her grandsons’ names.
