BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to the maximum punishment of 14 years in prison for driving drunk and killing a St. Louis man who was struck by a vehicle and knocked off a Mississippi River bridge.
A St. Clair County judge sentenced Brandon Garcia of Florissant, Mo., on Friday on charges of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. The judge also ordered Garcia to simultaneously serve a 10-year sentence on a DUI count related to injuries he caused to another pedestrian.
Authorities say Garcia was fleeing from police in September 2011 when he hit 26-year-old Daunte Simmons and another pedestrian as the two walked on the Poplar Street Bridge. Simmons fell to the land below.
