Rashad Owens, the drunk driver who killed 4 people & injured over 23 people at the SXSW festival last year was just sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors argued that Owens knew what he was doing when he turned onto Red River Street from 9th on March 13th. There was a traffic stop & barricades that he went around before crashing into the crowd. “He didn’t care who was in his way. He was not going to be stopped. He was not going to go to jail.” prosecutor Amy Merdith said.

The prosecution used the vehicles black box as evidence to show that Owens had increased speed before striking 2 victims. Evidence from cameras and the police dash cam showed that Owens never breaked during the incident. They also mentioned that before fleeing the police he managed to maneuver through a gas station parking lot and avoided hitting a parked car on red river.

The defense countered their argument by saying that Owens wasn't familiar with Austin & wasn't aware of where he was driving to. Defense attorney Rick Jones said, “We don’t know at what point Mr. Owens perceived what was in front of him. We don’t know what time he had to react.”

The jury agreed on the prosecution after just three hours of deliberation. Owens immediately received a life sentence without parole.