Texas jury has sentenced a man after being convicted for intoxicated manslaughter after killing another in a car crash.
Josh Brent a former Dallas Cowboy player now faces 20 years in jail on Thursday for killing his teammate, Jerry Brown Jr. 25-years-old at the time, in a fatal intoxicated car accident. After hearing prosecutors that demanded Brent to serve jail time, the jury did not come up with a decision after an hour of deliberation.
A night of drinking at a private club back in December 2012, Brent was driving his Mercedes to a speed up to 110 mph. And that is when his vehicle crashed into a curb on the state highway, flipping the car and caught on fire, killing Brown at the scene.
Brent was tested and had an alcohol level at 0.189, twice the legal limit in Texas, according to police officers reports.
The jury will reconvene Friday to see if Brent will be convicted on a second deliberation on his sentencing.
"He's still responsible, but you can't go on in life and hold a grudge. We all make mistakes and have to be forgiven. I'm sure that's what Jerry would have wanted," said Stacey Jackson.
Jackson favors a probation on Brent, which is a possible solution the jury can do.
The prosecutors have called up five other witness during the sentencing phase that also included crash scene investigators. A jail official said that Brent was tested to have marijuana, while an Illinois state trooper said he had arrested Brent in 2009 for driving intoxicated when he played football for the University of Illinois.
Brent's mother, LaTasha Brent wept as her brother Roland Brent testified to court about Josh's childhood, saying that he had to move between friend's homes while his mother was in an abusive relationship.
A week after the incident, Roland Brent said Josh was distraught about his teammate's death that he did not want to leave him by himself.
"It was hard seeing him that way. It was just the guilt, I guess. He was very emotionally down," said Roland Brent.
Josh Brent was sitting on the sideline during the first half of the Cowboy's home game, a little week after Brown's death, reminded prosecutors.
Brent was on leave by the Cowbows following the accident and retired from the team in July.
Brent began working in a warehouse in Dallas. Brent was paid $630,000 for the final year of his NFL contract before his retirement.
Jerry Brown Jr.'s mother said that her son would have agreed to a leniency towards Brent.
Source: AOL Auto, "http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/us-usa-crime-brent-idUSBREA0F1YK20140123," Lisa Maria Garza, January 23rd, 2013
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