By Elizabeth Ferszt
One year ago last month, the Seifried family of Allegan County experienced the worst kind of tragedy possible: the loss of their 8-month-old daughter, Lucia Iris. On April 26, 2025, a drunk driver plowed into their front yard while the family was relaxing, watching the sunset over Base Line Lake, in Trowbridge Twp.
“We were just sitting in our front yard watching the sunset, and all of a sudden this truck is coming straight for us,” Lucia’s dad, Matthew Seifried, said.
The man who killed their daughter, Terry Lee Boss, age 58, was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in an MDOC prison, on March 3, 2026, by Hon. Judge Emily W. Jipp. According to 48th Circuit Court records, he was offered, and posted, a $500,000 surety bond on Aug 6, 2025. He plead ’Nolo Contendere’ on January 20, 2026 to three charges: Homicide — Murder — Second Degree (MCL 750.317); Operating while intoxicated causing death (MCL 257.6254); and Reckless Driving causing death (MCL 257.6264).
Boss still also faces a balance of $27,004.84 in court fines and other fees.
Matthew Seifried and his wife, (Lucia’s mom) Rebecca Seifried have done everything they can to prevent this occurrence from happening again, including creating a large banner that they hung in their neighborhood, reminding drivers to slow down on the curving roads around the lake.
After also facing several instances of cruel reality following an unexpected death of a child, the Siefreids now are suffering financially.
“Not only did we lose the most important thing in our life, our child, but we immediately had funeral costs; we also maxed out our out-of-pocket max for medical insurance, not only for Lucia’s medical bills, but for Matthew as well as our dog. (Matthew Seifreid and the family dog were also injured in the crash). We had veterinarian bills. So we quickly reached over $50,000 in debt,” Rebecca Seifreid said.
But they have enlisted the help of their local state legislator, Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), who worked with the Seifreids to create “Lucia’s Law” a new package of laws that would tighten loopholes around drunk driving deaths:
“What these bills do is first put the victim first, close loopholes, and lastly ensure there’s real consequences for drunk drivers,” Albert said.
Currently, there are no required guidelines for judges to follow in sentencing drunk drivers who kill or injure someone. In some cases, after a few nights in a local jail, drunk driving suspects can keep their license on a restricted basis as their cases are adjudicated in the courts.
But what really shocked and outraged the Seifrieds was that current Michigan insurance laws allow passengers in the same car that struck and killed someone — to file a claim against the insured driver’s policy.
Albert explained that his bill would keep alleged drunk drivers off the road while they act as criminal defendants in the court system. It would also require a mandatory 5-year sentence for drivers convicted of causing injury or death.
And passengers in a drunk driving vehicle would be barred from collecting insurance pay-outs.
“It just blows my mind that somebody who is just as responsible for the death of our daughter, a pain that we carry every single day, in the eyes of the law in Michigan has some right to make an insurance claim even though they put themselves in that situation,” Matthew Seifried said.
Senator Albert agrees, and believes that Lucia’s Law stands a good chance of passing. “I’ve had good conversations with (state legislators) on both sides of the aisle,” Albert said. The bill will now be heard in committee before it is voted on the full floor. Albert sees “postive momentum” among his Lansing colleagues. Rebecca Seifreid agrees: “If this legislation can save more lives and save more families from the grief that we’re burdened with, then we will be immensely proud and full of joy.”
Albert also explained that not only are the Seifried’s his constituents, but they are also his friends, sharing that his own daughter is named Lucia, and that he attended the funeral of infant Lucia Iris.
The family has created the Lucia Iris Foundation to help families impacted by drunk driving. The website can be found at luciairis.org
