A young man charged with driving while intoxicated and flipping his vehicle, killing his friend, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday in Kleberg County.
It was January of 2014 when 23-year old Juan Martinez was driving drunk and flipped his drunk, killing his friend. On Monday in court friend and family of the girl that was killed in the accident, 20-year old Jackie Olivares, were present for the sentencing.
Olivares and a group of friends had met up with Martinez at a Kingsville club.
"He'd secured wristbands for them so they could drink underage. Every one of them were probably intoxicated," Kleberg County District Attorney John Hubert said. "He left with the victim in his truck. He was driving too fast for the conditions."
Martinez flipped his truck along Seale Street on the westside of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus. Olivares was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Martinez took off on foot, but he was captured a short time later.
On Monday, Martinez pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter and leaving the scene of the accident.
As family and friends listened, the judge went along with the plea agreement in the case, which will have Martinez serving a maximum of 10 years in prison versus the 20 he could have gotten if it had gone to trial. Martinez is now a convicted felon and is heading to state prison to serve his time for what happened.
