Relatives of Kortney Biton-Schubert told a state judge Wednesday they have forgiven Devon Shane Keser for killing Biton-Schubert in a drunken driving crash on the H-1 freeway last summer, and some recommended the judge sentence Keser to probation.
Keser was also eligible for a five-year prison term instead of the normal 10-year maximum for first-degree negligent homicide because he was 19 years old at the time of the crash.
He asked Circuit Judge Glenn Kim on Wednesday for a second chance.
Kim told Keser that he was getting no leniency.
“You drove drunk, you took another person’s life and you badly injured three others. Anything short of a full prison term is simply insufficient,” he said.
Kim sentenced Keser to the 10-year term for the negligent homicide and to concurrent five- and one-year terms for injuring three other passengers.
Keser pleaded no contest to the charges in January.
Police say Keser was driving recklessly and speeding on Aug. 12 when he lost control of his Jeep about a quarter-mile east of the Vineyard Boulevard offramp. Witnesses told police the Jeep was darting in and out of traffic lanes before it crashed into a guardrail and rolled over several times.
Keser, Biton-Schubert and the other passengers, none of whom was wearing a seat belt, were ejected.
Biton-Schubert, 18, died at the scene. She was
Keser’s girlfriend.
Keser and the other passengers, two 20-year-old males and a 19-year-old female, went to a hospital by ambulance in critical condition.
Police said Keser’s blood-alcohol content was 0.13. The legal threshold for drunken driving is 0.08. Because Keser was younger than 21, he was not legally allowed to drink alcohol.
One of the passengers told police the group was heading to Waikiki to attend a rave.
Theresa Schubert,
Biton-Schubert’s cousin, said after the sentencing that she and her family hope that their loss will help others appreciate the importance of life.
“Parents, speak to your children, whether they are teenagers or young adults, about the importance of wearing your seat belts and the dangers of drinking and speeding and driving,” Schubert said.