Boy killed on way to school in crash. Now SC man is going to prison on DUI conviction
A man was sentenced to decades behind bars Monday after pleading guilty to multiple crimes in a crash that killed an 11-year-old South Carolina boy who was on his way to school, officials said.
In February, Ethan Frank Rubenzer was a passenger in a car that was hit by Michael Eugene Kelley II, who was charged with felony DUI among other crimes, The State reported.
On Monday, the 30-year-old Spartanburg man was sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to WHNS.
The sixth-grade student died two days after the wreck “as a result of injuries he suffered,” according to a tweet from his school — High Point Academy.
The crash happened days before Ethan’s 12th birthday, and caused his mother Patricia to be critically injured, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reported.
The deadly wreck was a three-vehicle collision, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol, which said Kelley crashed a 2014 Chevrolet into the side of the car Ethan was riding in, causing it to overturn and crash into a third vehicle, WHNS reported.
Kelley ignored a traffic light before smashing into the Rubenzer’s car, according to WHNS.
Highway Patrol troopers said they could smell marijuana on Kelley and found a bag in his car, per WYFF. He admitted smoking marijuana the night before the crash and tested positive for THC, the TV station reported.
Kelley pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence with death, felony driving under the influence with great bodily injury, and driving under suspension, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
He also pleaded guilty to six drug charges for distribution of fentanyl that were pending when the crash happened, and is ordered to serve a consecutive 15-year sentence following the 25 years he’ll spend behind bars for the DUI charges, per WHNS.
“No parent should have to go through this,” solicitor Barry Barnette said, according to WYFF. “Michael Kelley’s drug dealings and his drug usage earned him a well-deserved lengthy prison sentence.”
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright visited Ethan in the hospital before the boy died and deputized him, The State reported.
