PHOENIX — A 20-year-old man was sentenced earlier this month to seven years in prison for causing a crash on New Year's Day 2022 that killed a mother of three kids in Phoenix.
Jaxon Collins was sentenced on Feb. 9 in Maricopa County Superior Court after the young man pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault, court records show.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Joven fue sentenciado a 7 años de prisión por un accidente en el que murió la madre de tres pequeños el día de Año Nuevo
Shortly after midnight on the first day of 2022, the defendant's car struck a vehicle occupied by 27-year-old Crystal Garcia, her husband, and her three young children. Garcia did not survive the crash.
The family was coming home from a New Year's Eve celebration when their car was hit near 38th Street and Greenway Road.
At the time of the incident, investigators accused Collins, who was 18 at the time, of driving while impaired at 89 mph in a 45-mph speed zone. The defendant notably did not plead guilty to any DUI charges.
In a previous interview with 12News, Crystal's family expressed compassion for the driver accused of taking her life.
“I’m not trying to lock this person up for the rest of [his life],” Lorena Garcia, Crystal's mom, said in 2022. “I’m a mom and he has to have parents and they’re hurting too.”
After completing his prison sentence, Collins will be placed on supervised probation for five years. The conditions of his probation include agreeing not to consume alcohol, participating in a Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim impact panel, and having his drivers license revoked, court records show.
*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast*
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Deaths on Arizona roadways:
Data from the Arizona Department of Transportation shows that roadway fatalities have been gradually rising in Arizona over the last decade:
2011: 825 deaths
2012: 821 deaths
2013: 844 deaths
2014: 774 deaths
2015: 895 deaths
2016: 952 deaths
2017: 1,000 deaths
2018: 1,010 deaths
2019: 982 deaths
2020: 1,057 deaths