Man pleads guilty in wreck that killed Jackson teen

By TYRONE TONY REED JR.
ttreed@jacksonsun.com

Luis Oscar Garcia has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges in connection with a car crash that killed James "J.R." Rogers Jr. on Aug. 26.

Garcia, 25, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment on May 7, according to court records. Three other charges — reckless driving, driving while unlicensed and violation of the Financial Responsibility Law — were dismissed. Garcia will be eligible for parole after serving 33 percent of his sentence.

According to a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Garcia is in the United States illegally and will be sent back to Mexico after he finishes his sentence.

According to a police report, Garcia's 1995 Chevy S-10 pickup ran a red light while traveling north on the U.S. 45 Bypass at Oil Well Road about 2 a.m. He slammed into the '95 Honda Civic that Rogers was driving westbound on Oil Well. Rogers, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Garcia smelled strongly of alcohol and that there were two empty beer bottles and one partially full bottle in his pickup truck.

Rogers' mother, Mary Holmes, wrote in a victim impact statement about the pain of losing her son. In the statement on file with the court, she wrote: "You just never imagine your child getting killed by a drunk driver. Then on top of that the drunk driver is also an illegal alien, someone that is not even supposed to be living here."

"J.R. was only 18 years old and had touched so many lives," she wrote. "Just think if he had lived, how much he could have done."

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