CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. >> A drunken driver who was texting when he struck and killed two teenage cousins in New Jersey has been sentenced to 18 years in prison and calls himself a monster.

The Press of Atlantic City reports that 33-year-old Joshua Malmgren, of Middle Township, received a nine-year sentence for each victim. He pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in September.

Malmgren expressed his remorse, saying: “I am a monster. I am so lost.”

Prosecutors say 15-year-old Nioami Lazicki, of Middle Township, and 13-year-old Ashley Dauber, of Philadelphia, were walking to get ice cream in July 2012 when Malmgren hit them with his SUV.

Nioami’s 14-year-old sister just missed being struck.

Two of Malmgren’s friends noticed he was intoxicated that night and offered him a ride home, but he refused.