Deltona man sentenced to prison for crash that killed his passenger
A Deltona man, who asked investigators if his injury would leave a cool scar minutes after crashing into a concrete power pole that killed his passenger two years ago, was sentenced to six years prison, officials said.
Luis Alberto Franco III, 23, was sentenced on Monday after he pleaded no contest to DUI causing the death of a person, said State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Haley Harrison on Tuesday.
"This defendant (Franco) accepted a plea deal. He was sentenced to six years in prison with a four year minimum mandatory followed by five years of probation," Harrison said.
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Fiery crash
Florida Highway Patrol traffic homicide investigators said the crash that killed Taylor Paige Huggins, 20, of Deltona, occurred at 11:57 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2022.
The 2015 Dodge Ram pickup was traveling on Kennedy Parkway near Oak Hill when it crashed at the intersection of U.S. 1. Huggins was a passenger in the vehicle, troopers said.
Franco, who a witness said was speeding 80 mph in a 55 mph zone, failed to negotiate a curve. The vehicle struck a concrete utility pole, overturned, and burst into flames, troopers said.
Huggins was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene of the wreck, troopers said.
Franco was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. His medical records would later show that he had a blood alcohol content of .138, almost twice the legal limit of .08 where a person in considered impaired under Florida law, a traffic homicide report showed.
'This would be a cool picture'
Investigating troopers said that Franco was seen in Volusia County deputies' body camera videos minutes after the crash being talkative, displaying a range of emotions including remorse, sadness and making lighthearted comments.
As a deputy was cleaning blood from Franco's face he said "If I had my phone still, I'd say take a picture, man. This would be a cool picture," troopers said Franco is heard saying.
In another instant, Franco asks the deputy about his injuries, the crash report states.
"Is it at least going to leave a cool scar?" Franco is heard saying in the body camera videos, according to troopers.
In their conclusion, troopers said Franco caused the death of Huggins, who died of head injuries, the traffic homicide report stated.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida man gets prison time for crash that killed passenger
