A teenage driver was sentenced Thursday in a deadly crash that killed a 15-year-old friend, seriously injured another teen -- and left a family devastated.
Authorities say Austin Hall -- then 17 years old -- was drunk and driving 119 mph on a residential street when he crashed in Olney, Maryland, last year.
The crash was horrific. In the early-morning hours of Aug. 30, 2014, Hall's car left the roadway and hit a tree.
Fifteen-year-old Shawn Gangloff, riding in the backseat, wasn't wearing a seat belt. He was ejected more than 100 feet from the car and died two days later.
Hall's front-seat passenger was seriously injured. All three teens attended Sherwood High School.
On Thursday, Hall was sentenced to eight years, with all but 18 months suspended, for two charges: negligent manslaughter and causing life-threatening injury with a vehicle while impaired. He will also serve five years of probation.
Gangloff's parents are still grieving.
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"It just feels like there is this elephant on your chest or that you are itching from the inside out," Allison Gangloff said. "If you do get to sleep you have nightmares about your son. You realize he's gone. You re-live the crash."
Still, they hope that somehow their loss can be a reminder to young people to act responsibly. They have created wristbands in purple, his favorite color, to encourage his friends to act wisely.
