Ashley Worrell said she was her son Blake’s biggest fan, saying he was good at everything he did, from playing football or just being a brother.

Anyone who met him was drawn to him, she remembered.

“He just carried that light around him where you just wanted to be his friend,” she said. “I just hope Blake knows I’m very proud of him.”

On Jan. 9, he would have turned 17 years old. But he will forever be 14 after he was killed in a two-vehicle crash in West Lubbock two years ago.

“I wanted to die when they told me he didn’t make it that day,” Worrell said, sobbing, as she sat on the witness stand last week in the 364th District Court.

Joshua Torres, 24, the driver who caused the deadly May 2021 crash, pleaded guilty to a count of manslaughter, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

As part of a plea deal with the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, Torres was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He also faced two counts of aggravated assault as a result of the crash. Those counts were dismissed.

Torres, who has been out on bond, admitted to recklessly operating a motor vehicle by failing to control its speed, stop at a red light, driving straight in a turning lane and driving after consuming alcohol.

He admitted to using his vehicle as a deadly weapon that night, which aggravates his case, requiring him to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

A deadly crash in west Lubbock

His charge stems from a Lubbock police investigation that began about 7:40 p.m. on May 28, 2021 when officers responded to a two-vehicle crash near the intersection of 19th Street and Slide Road.

Ward, his 17-year-old brother Jackson Bradley, and Worrell were taken by ambulance to University Medical Center, where Ward died. Bradley and Worrell both suffered moderate injuries.

Investigators believe the three were in a 2008 Suzuki SUV driven by Worrell in the westbound lanes of 19th Street as she was turning south onto Slide Road.

Meanwhile, Torres was driving southbound on Slide Road in a 2013 Chrysler 300 and collided with the SUV.

A witness at the scene told an officer Torres was speeding, drove into the left turning lane and ran a red light before the crash, according to court records.

A responding officer noted a faint smell of alcohol coming from Torres and described his eyes as glassy. He described Torres’ behavior as “Cocky,” “Profane” and “Insulting” and said he refused a field sobriety test, the records state.

Torres was taken by ambulance to Covenant Medical Center for minor injuries before he was booked in to the Lubbock County Detention Center on a charge of intoxication manslaughter.

He was released on bond the next day.

About a year later, a grand jury returned an indictment charging him with manslaughter.

The loss of a son

Worrell said Tuesday that she and her sons were returning from a movie and remembers turning on a green arrow before the crash.

“I wish I would have seen you,” she said. “I never did. I never saw you coming. I never did. I don’t know if you saw us. I always wondered why, just why?”

Worrell said she remembered hearing her son, Blake, moaning in pain.

“I thought it was OK,” she said. “I didn’t know that was it.”

She said Bradley suffered sever damage to his one of his legs, requiring nearly 10 surgeries.

“He almost died twice,” Worrell said. “He will never be able to run.”

Worrell said she also lost full use of her right arm. But the loss of her son hurts the most.

“I had three boys and God blessed me to be called their mom,” she said. “Blake was a link of a chain. He linked the boys together. I don’t know what you do when you lose a child.”

Worrell said the loss of her son has plunged her into a depression that rips her from the world, which she knows hurts her other sons, who are also struggling with the death of their brother.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I’m trying so hard but I don’t know what to do.”

Worrell also read a statement Bradley wrote to Torres, telling him that his family is paying the price for Torres’ decision to drink and drive that night.

“You put all of us in a horrible place two years ago. I had to go through seeing my brother in a casket at 14, lifeless and then burying my brother, 6 feet below, where he’s at forever,” Bradley wrote.

However, Worrell told Torres that she forgave him and thanked him for accepting the plea deal, which she said she agreed to because she didn’t want to ruin another life.

“Even though mine was destroyed,” she said. “I am upset, very very, upset. But, like I said, I had to move on from that and I just will be praying for you.”

Consequences of DWI

Before Torres was escorted out of the courtroom, District Judge William Eichman told him that the case was another example of the consequences of drinking and driving.

“This is another sad example when a young person thinks they’re (invincible), infallible and they’re not,” he said. “It’s simply not worth it. This has impacted so many lives.”

Torres’ attorney Michael LeMond said after the hearing that his client was remorseful.

Prosecutor Courtney Boyd said after the hearing that she told Worrell she was willing to take the case to trial.

“Ultimately, she decided it really was already her son’s life that was lost, she did not want to take another life for longer than the time we agreed for,” she said.

However, she said the plea deal still achieved the goals of justice.

“Considering the family’s statements, is any time appropriate enough when there’s a deceased 14 year old?” she said. “But is justice in this case done because of the family’s wishes? Yes, I believe so.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mother mourns teenage son as driver sentenced in deadly west Lubbock crash