Daytona Beach, FL – An Edgewater man gets 4 years in prison for a drunk driving crash near Oak Hill that killed his 16-year-old cousin over 2 years ago.
20-year-old Austen Goodrich was facing 20 years behind bars prior to his sentencing hearing on Friday in a Volusia County courtroom.
Goodrich entered a no contest plea to 3 DUI-related charges – including manslaughter – last July, nearly 2 years to the date of the accident that killed 16-year-old Cory Goodrich near the Turnbull Hammock Conservation Area.
That same accident also saw paramedics send Austen and a 15-year-old girl to Halifax Health Medical Center in critical condition.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office believes alcohol played a factor in the July 24, 2013 accident because several open containers were found in the 2005 Dodge Dakota Austen was driving after it crashed into a ditch.
Detectives think Austen – who was 17 years old at the time – was speeding westbound on West Halifax Avenue when it crossed over the railroad tracks and went airborne near the Elleanore Street intersection.
VCSO believes Austen somehow lost control of the vehicle when it hit the pavement, skidding sideways into the ditch and blocking the eastbound lane.
Cody was pronounced dead at the scene while an 18-year-old woman – another passenger in the Dakota – suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalization. VCSO says that woman was the only one of the 4 wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
No other vehicles were involved.
Goodrich’s blood alcohol content was .213, or almost 3 times the legal limit, according to Spencer Hathaway, a spokesman for 7th Circuit State Attorney RJ Larizza.
Goodrich will be on probation for 10 years and have his driver’s license revoked for 10 years after his release from prison.
Austen Goodrich (mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
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