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Man gets 6 years in jail, must pay $30K fine after causing fatal 7-vehicle accident in 2021

Derek St. Amant has agreed to a plea deal on one count of second-degree intoxication manslaughter in his passenger's death, and two counts of intoxication assault.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A man will serve six years in jail and pay a $30,000 fine after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault Tuesday.

Derek St. Amant accepted a plea deal Tuesday morning for his part in a fatal 7-vehicle accident on SPID in 2021, and was sentenced Tuesday afternoon in Judge David Klein's 148th District Court.

He is getting credit for time already served, and the sentences for all three counts will run concurrently.

Nueces County District Attorney's Office prosecutors said St. Amant ran red lights in a white GMC Sierra Truck at 100 MPH on the SPID access road near Airline Road. After losing control of the truck, he sideswiped a vehicle and rear-ended another on his way to ultimately propelling into the old Sunrise Mall parking lot and landing in front of the old Planet Fitness location.

The accident killed St. Amant's passenger. That person reportedly had been providing St. Amant with drugs that day, and a toxicology report found numerous drugs in their system.

The defense and prosecution had conflicting stories as to St. Amant's drug use the day of the accident Tuesday. 

Toxicology reports found that, at the time of the accident -- 3 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2021 -- he was not under the influence of alcohol, but methamphetamines were found in his system. 

Defense attorneys said those results were from a previous day's use, and that St. Amant had not used drugs the day of the accident. 

Nueces County asst. district attorney Joe Nick Pena countered that St. Amant had previously admitted to being under the influence of psychedelic drug ayahuasca, which DPS labs do not test for in standard toxicology screens.

Despite saying he had not taken drugs that November day, defense attorneys said St. Amant is religious, and was hallucinating a "highway to heaven" during the accident.

Assignments Planner Jeremy Landers contributed to this story.

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