Travis County

Austin Man Gets 6 Years for Fatal Crash at Party

A man has been sentenced to six years in prison for crashing his sport utility vehicle into an Austin carport, killing a father of five who was celebrating a relative's birthday.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that 25-year-old Michael Jay Smoltich was sentenced this week after pleading guilty to a felony charge of accident involving death. According to court records filed Wednesday in Travis County, Smoltich will receive credit for more than a year of incarceration already served.

Wallace Sorrells was killed in the 2013 crash.

Police have said Smoltich admitted taking Xanax and did not remember what led to the crash hours later. According to an arrest affidavit, the 49-year-old Sorrells had been holding his infant son in his arms when the Ford Explorer careened into the carport.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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