James sentenced to nearly 18 years in 2023 fatality accident

Family members of a Whiting woman told the Texas man convicted of killing her in an April 2023 traffic accident that if their wife and mother could come back and forgive him for her death, she would do so.

“Our mom was the queen of forgiveness,” said Julie Porter, daughter of the late Melinda Wareham, who was killed in that traffic accident by Ayinde-Jriel James, 46, of Keller, Texas, during a sentencing hearing held Thursday, Jan. 9 for James in Jackson County District Court.

James was given a prison sentence of nearly 18 years to think about what Wareham’s family said to him during the sentencing hearing on convictions of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and aggravated battery while driving under the influence.

Jackson County District Court Judge Norbert Marek gave James the sentence of 215 months — one month short of 18 years — during the hearing, at which point James was given credit for 624 days (about a year and nine months) spent at the Jackson County Jail following the April 26, 2023, accident on U.S. Highway 75 north of Holton that claimed Wareham’s life.

During last Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Wareham’s husband, Robert, and three of her children, including Porter, spoke to the court about the loss their family sustained in the accident, as well as Melinda Wareham’s attempts to avoid the accident and how it may have saved James’ life.

“The last thing she did was that she swerved a little bit when she saw you coming,” son Doug Wareham said. “I’m surprised how you could have lived through that accident.”

Oldest son Rob Wareham added that his mother “had a smile for everybody she ever met,” while Robert Wareham said the accident was “the most difficult thing I’ve experienced in my life” and that the family was “glad to get this behind us.”

James did not directly address the court or the Wareham family during last Thursday’s hearing, but his defense attorney, former Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller, said that James was “incredibly sorry for the choices that he made” that led to the accident.

“He’s wanted to say that to the family as long as I’ve been working with him,” Miller said of James. “He knows that ‘sorry’ doesn’t cover it, but what else could he say?”

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