- Ethan Couch, 16, faced 20 years behind bars for killing four people in a car crash but walked away with 10 years probation Tuesday
- Youth pastor Brian Jennings; mother and daughter Hollie and Shelby Boyles; and 24-year-old Breanna Mitchell all died in the June 15 accident
- Sergio Molina, now 16, was in the back of Couch’s pickup truck and survived the accident but is now paralyzed and was in a coma
- A psychologist called by the defense blamed Couch’s behavior on ‘affluenza’ claiming his parents gave him too many freedoms
- Molina’s family are now suing Couch and his father’s business- as the car was owned by the company- for $20million
PUBLISHED: 01:53 EST, 14 December 2013 | UPDATED: 07:07 EST, 14 December 2013
The relatives of one of the seven friends who were piled into a wealthy drunk driver’s pickup truck have spoken out about the ‘living hell’ they have been in since the accident six months ago.
Sergio Molina was in the back of a pickup truck being driven erratically by Ethan Couch when he slammed into four people on the side of a road. Those four people- a young woman whose car had broken down, a Good Samaritan trying to help, and a mother and daughter who also got out to see what they could do- were all killed.
Sergio, who is now 16, is still alive but has a completely different existence than he did before the accident as he is paralyzed, ‘minimally conscious’ and needs constant medical attention.
Forever changed: Sergio Molina, now 16, was in a coma following the June accident but now has been transferred home as his family grapples with how to adjust to his now-permanent paralysis
Heartbreaking: Sergio now must be cared for by his mother Maria Lemus (left) and older brother Alex (right) around the clock and they have already accrued $1million in medical bills
Expensive: Alex Lemus (left) had to quit his job to help care for his brother and the family has already accrued more than a million dollars in medical bills over the past six months
Speaking to CNN, Sergio’s older brother Alex Lemus said that doctors warned them of getting their hopes too high.
‘That’s all we can hope for, is how he is now for the rest of his life,’ Lemus said.
He attended Couch’s trial in place of his brother, who can barely move without assistance.
When the judge handed down a sentence of 10 years’ probation and no jail time for the crash, Lemus said that he had trouble processing his anger.
He said he was ‘disappointed, so outrageously angry that I couldn’t say anything’.
His mother, Maria Lemus, still breaks down in tears when thinking about all of Sergio’s dreams that seem so far out of reach in light of the accident.
No jail: Ethan Couch of Keller, Texas, pictured left on Tuesday, had faced 20 years behind bars but walked away with 10 years probation, something that has angering his victim’s families
Drunk: Couch’s blood alcohol reading was .24 and he also had a Valium in his system when he killed four people and injured several more on June 15
‘He was the best son, he was the kind of boy who had a lot of dreams,’ Ms Lemus said.
‘He was his first dream was to be a soccer player. He was sweet.’
Sergio’s family estimates that they have accrued more than $1million in medical bills over the past six months, and they are now suing Couch’s family and his father’s business- the car that the boys were in was owned by the company- for up to $20million.
Before: Sergio had dreams of playing professional soccer before the accident
‘That kid killed four people and crippled my little brother and doesn’t even have to serve one year? If he were poor like us, he would’ve gotten 10 years, I bet,’ Alex Lemus told The Dallas Morning News.
They are not the first victims relatives to speak out in light of the controversial ruling, as Eric Boyles, who lost his wife Hollie and 21-year-old daughter Shelby in the accident said he is dissatisfied with the easy sentence, and thinks Couch should have been tried as an adult
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523570/Affluenza-crash-Ethan-Couchs-family-sued-paralyzed-teenager-20m.html#ixzz2nTTAGtA7 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Categories: Behavior Modification
Engineering Evil 