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Delray Beach man gets 18 years for crash that killed girlfriend

WPTV-JAMES-AVIRETT.jpg
Posted at 10:27 AM, Oct 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-31 11:08:38-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida prosecutors agreed to an 18-year sentence for a man who crashed into a police car, sped off at more than 100 mph (160 kph), fatally injured another motorist then ran over his girlfriend.

News outlets report that 38-year-old James Avirett pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of vehicular homicide and fleeing the scene of a crash.

Delray Beach police said Avirett hit a patrol car while making a U-turn in December and then sped away. He hit 77-year-old Michael Fogg, who was waiting at a stop sign; Fogg died almost two months later. Then he careened onto a sidewalk and hit his girlfriend, 41-year-old Dara Treechatinan, who was on the phone with him.

Avirett's lawyer called it "unbelievably tragic" that he was looking for his girlfriend and ended up killing her.