NEED TO KNOW
The driver responsible for the deaths of three members of the Putman family will be serving time behind bars.
According to court records obtained by PEOPLE, 55-year-old Pavel B. Shchukin pleaded no contest to three counts of a moving violation causing death — a misdemeanor — in a Michigan court on Dec. 9. He was sentenced to one year in jail and has been ordered to pay $1,425 in fines.
On Sept. 27, Isabelle Putman revealed in an Instagram post on the family’s shared account that her grandfather “Papa” Bill Putman, grandma “Neenee” Barb Putman and her aunt Megan died in a “tragic car accident.” Megan’s husband Blake and their children Noah, Lulu and Alena were also injured in the crash and hospitalized, as was Blake’s brother Brandon’s daughter Gia.
“We ask for your continued prayers for Uncle Blake, Lulu, Alena, Noah and Gia as they recover, and for our whole family as we walk through this deep loss,” Isabelle wrote at the time. “Thank you for every prayer, message and act of love. Your support means more than words can express.”
TLC/YouTube
The family rose to fame in 2017 when they appeared in their six-episode TLC reality series, Meet the Putmans, which followed the lives of Bill, his wife Barb and their four children, as well as their extended families, as they all lived together in one massive home. The show was later revived in 2021 as the YouTube series, Growing Up Putman, but their last upload was in January.
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Loved ones who run the family’s social media have continued to offer updates on the surviving members’ health since the incident. They also posted a statement on Dec. 9 before speaking in court for Shchukin’s sentencing.
“Our family has been and is going through some major challenges, to say the least, for the last three months now,” the statement began. “We’ve lost three guiding Godly people in our lives who we looked to for wisdom every day. We fought for our kids’ lives with four of our kids in the hospital at one time.”
“Yesterday, Gia went through her 10th major surgery in the last 75 days,” the statement continued, referring to what was later revealed to be a cranioplasty. “Our family hasn’t been fully together since September 26. And today, three months later, is both the plea and sentencing of the man who caused the accident where our family will speak to him in the courtroom for the first time.”
The statement further praised medical professionals and credited faith in God for helping the family make it through difficult times.
“We believe in the power of prayer and we still humbly ask for your prayers not only for Gia’s health of course but also for the words that Billy and Blake will be saying to this man in court today,” the statement concluded. “And also for the words that we say to all the people we come across at the hospital. Use us, God!”
