Mary Poole faced the man who killed her brother and recalled hearing about his death in 2016.

“The numbness you feel is overwhelming,” she said. “I was blinded by grief.”

After a three day-trial in August a jury unanimously found Michael T. Burns, 59, of Houston, guilty of killing Dale T. Major after Burns ran a red light in a truck he was driving and hit Major on his motorcycle

On Thursday Burns appeared for sentencing on charges of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, failure to stop at a red signal and three counts of operating a vehicle with hazardous brake systems.

Poole and other members of Major’s family appeared in court to memorialize Major and express forgiveness for what Burns did. They all thought Burns didn’t deserve to be put in jail.

Judge William Shaffer sentenced Burns to three to six months of incarceration but he decided to parole him immediately, ordering him to serve 6 months of house arrest. Burns will also be on probation for 8½ years and must complete 250 hours of community service.

But Major’s family also wanted Burns to reckon with the loss he caused and “never forget us, for we are bound by tragedy.” They told the court their strong familial bonds made Major’s loss nearly too much to bear.

“We are a small but mighty family,” Poole said.

The family gathered to break the news of Major’s death to his mother, who was 90 at the time and died this year. The news, Poole said, left their mother “catatonic, living in a grave.”

“How does one rectify death caused by carelessness?” she said. “We live with the loss of Dale every day. He was my best friend. Just plain and simple, we miss him terribly. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

The pain, Poole said, still cripples her and “sometimes, you just want to crawl in bed under the covers and cry, even at 65.” She then turned to Burns and said: “I don’t believe you intended to do this. I forgive you. I believe imprisonment is for criminals. I don’t believe that is where you belong.”

Janice Major, another one of Major’s siblings, opened her remarks in court by saying, “It is my belief that Mr. Burns and the court should know who (Dale Major) is.”

Major, she said, was originally from Michigan and moved to Pennsylvania for a job related to the steel industry. His business was “excelling and he was looking forward to retirement,” she said. Aside from his work, Major loved motorcycles and gardening.

“He was so excited to teach you something new,” Janice Major said. “He taught me how to dance in the living room when I was a kid. Dale was a good man, a giving man.”

She told the court that questions about her brother’s final moments still haunt her.

“I will forever wonder if Dale saw what was about to happen to him,” she said. “I will forever wonder if he felt any pain.”

At the time of the accident Burns worked as a truck driver for a company called Air Equipment Corp. Though he had only been with the company for two weeks, he had 15 years of experience as a rig driver.

During his trial, Burns testified that the truck had performed just fine when he first got behind the wheel. After he picked up a compressor unit at a construction site south of Butler, he approached Route 8 along Glade Mill Road. The truck’s brakes did not stop the vehicle and load from crashing through the intersection, killing Major on his motorcycle, he said.