Footage of the fatal crash that took the lives of Galveston, Tex., teenagers Mason Nelson and Sam Mixon (via YouTube screengrab/KHOU). Inset: Keith Aaron Brazier, who pleaded guilty to murder (via Galveston (Tex.) County).
The Texas man who was reportedly celebrating his release from prison after serving time for multiple drunk driving offenses when he slammed into a group of teenagers — killing two and injuring one — will spend half a century behind bars.
Mason Nelson and Sam Mixon, both 14, were killed after Keith Aaron Brazier, now 29, plowed his SUV into a Jeep carrying the teens on Sept. 2, 2022. According to Galveston County officials, the crash happened in front of Ball High School, where the teens were students. Brazier was “speeding and driving while intoxicated when he ran a red light” and struck the Jeep, officials said.
“One of the students was killed on the scene, and another died in the following days,” the Galveston County Criminal District Attorney’s office said in a statement. “A third student suffered severe head trauma but survived the crash.”
Brazier pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of murder and one count of intoxicated assault with a vehicle. He was sentenced that same day to 50 years behind bars.
According to investigators, Brazier was just hours out of prison after serving time for drunk driving offenses.
“Brazier had been released from prison that same day at 10:30 a.m. for a conviction of driving while intoxicated — third offense, less than eight hours before the crash,” the DA’s statement says. “Brazier returned to Galveston County that morning. A witness who was in Brazier’s vehicle at the time of the crash told police that he and Brazier had visited multiple bars on Galveston Island throughout the day.”
According to the DA, Brazier had been “removed from the bar Sharky’s by management” around an hour before the deadly collision.
Officials say Brazier was driving with a blood alcohol content of .217, more than twice the legal limit, at the time of the crash.
According to Houston ABC affiliate KTRK, the crash happened at around 6 p.m., shortly after they had left a volleyball game.
A third teen in the car, Hannah Jackson, suffered a brain injury but survived the crash. She was there for Brazier’s sentencing on Monday, reportedly having entered the courtroom with the help of a walker, KTRK reported.
Brazier’s attorney, Calvin Parks, said his client felt remorse, according to KTRK.
The victims’ families pushed for and approved the plea deal, the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office reportedly said.
“It is the closing of a chapter. It allows the families to have one less thing to worry about, especially over the holidays, which is what we feel strongly about,” Mason’s father, Reid Nelson, said after court, according to KTRK. “It does not make it one thing, one iota better, but it closes that chapter. We take the wins where we can get them.”
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