Britt Sentenced to 25 Years For Killing Oxford Teacher While Driving Drunk

Joseph Britt was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the DUI deaths of two Oxford women.

A man charged with driving drunk and killing Oxford math teacher Sherry Buford was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday.

Joseph Britt, 36, of Plantersville, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of DUI death and one count of DUI maiming, according to a court clerk.

On Friday, a Lee County Circuit Court Judge sentenced Britt to two, 25-year sentences that will run concurrently (at the same time) and a 25-year suspended sentence for the DUI maiming charge.

After he is released, Britt will serve five years on probation. Should he violate his probation, the judge could revoke the suspended sentence.

The second DUI death was for Sandra Phillips, 59, who was in the vehicle with Buford. She received life-threatening injuries from the crash but recovered until her death in January from complications related to her injuries.

Buford worked for the Oxford School District since 2005 as a sixth-grade math teacher. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi.
Phillips attended Lafayette High School and worked for the university.

According to court records, Britt was traveling on Interstate 22 near Mooreville at about 9:20 p.m. Feb. 15, 2018 when he crossed the road into the wrong lane and crashed into a vehicle head-on, killing Buford immediately.

Three others in Buford’s car suffered moderate to severe injuries.

Buford and the others were returning from watching her niece, Shaniya Buford, play basketball with Itawamba Community College in Fulton against Northeast Mississippi Community College.

Hottytoddy.com staff report