 A drunk driver, eighteen-year-old Holly Maynard, runs down a skateboarder, ten-year-old Deenia Larson, and flees the scene. Eddie the ice cream man reports the incident to the police. Holly confesses the hit-and-run to her mother Cynthia, pleading for help. Driving recklessly to leave town, Holly is arrested for DUI and speeding. When her car is identified and Deenia dies in the hospital, a charge of vehicular manslaughter is added. Irate citizens demonstrate against Holly outside City Hall. A judge orders Holly undergo a psychological examination, but the Sparta City Council has no funds for such things. A psychiatrist friend of Sheriff Gillespie, Dr. Atwill, offers his service pro bono, but the treatment comes too late for the devastated Holly.