BOSQUE COUNTY, Texas — Editor's Note: Video in this story is from Dec. 3, 2017.
Nearly two years after three young lives were taken in a head-on crash in Bosque County, the man who authorities said caused was sentenced Thursday.
The Bosque County District Attorney's office said Christopher Berry, of Clifton, was intoxicated when he tried to pass two vehicles in a no-passing zone on State Highway 6 not far from Clifton.
As he pulled into the oncoming lane, a car coming from the other direction swerved to avoid him but it was too late. Berry's Suburban and the Volkswagen Jetta slammed into each other, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The three people in the Jetta, Taylor Bradley, 19, his girlfriend, Griffin Anderson of Stanton, 17, and their friend Diego Picon Heredia, 20, were all killed. They were on their way to a movie in Waco, according to Bradley's mother, Sherrie Bradley.
Berry was taken to Baylor, Scott & White-Hillcrest with serious injuries. He was arrested and charged with three counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in Sept. 2018. His trial was scheduled at the courthouse in Meridian.
A judge found Berry guilty during a bench trial Tuesday.
Berry was sentenced Thursday. While he was originally sentenced for three counts of intoxication manslaughter and three counts of reckless manslaughter, but the judge removed the three former charges before Thursday's sentencing.
The judge sentenced Berry to the maximum sentence: 60 years in prison, 20 years for each of the three charges, but he will serve them concurrently meaning he will only spend 20 years actually in prison.
Bradley said her son and Anderson had a baby boy, Bentley, who was 3 months old at the time.
"We concentrate on Bentley and giving him the best life possible without having his parents here to raise him," Bradley in a statement she emailed to 6 News Friday.
6 News spoke with Bradley a few weeks after the crash. At the time, she said Bentley had a problem with one of his heart valves that may have required surgery.
In her email, Bradley said the boy still had a heart murmur but the issue with the valve had "pretty much resolved itself."
"Bentley is thriving and a beautiful, loving, silly little toddler very much full of life and ready to take on the world just like Taylor and Griffin," Bradley wrote.
Sherrie Bradley's full statement:
"The last two years have been a lesson in patience and trusting God's timing. It has been painfully heartbreaking to lose my youngest son, his girlfriend and best friend. Taylor Bradley was 19, Griffin Anderson was 17 and Diego Heredia was 20 with their whole lives ahead of them. They have not been here in the flesh to see Bentley grow and thrive and for him to feel his dad and mom's arms around him or hear their voices speaking to him. I get up every day with them on my heart and they are still there when I try to close my eyes at night. I have three sons and Taylor was the baby boy. There's a huge foggy, empty spot where Taylor's presence is missed. He was always the hugger, the jokester, his heart was so huge. It didn't matter what the atmosphere was or where Taylor was, he would have you laughing and smiling even when you wanted to throttle him. He was not afraid to show his love and devotion to family and friends. He was determined to be the best dad possible to Bentley. The house is much quieter, holidays are quieter and not the same. Some days the depth of pain seems too much to (bear). That's when he sends me a sign to keep strong and never back down. You can't really put into words how much your life changes, you change, your family changes when you lose a child, no matter the age. Nineteen years will never be long enough. Barry took so much from so many lives the day he made the choices he made and resulted in their deaths. We will never be the same but hope to do Taylor, Griffin and Diego proud by getting justice here until God hands down the ultimate justice. We concentrate on Bentley and giving him the best life possible without having his parents here to raise him.
We hope to see Barry behind bars for a very long time where he cannot repeat what happened that evening when three young people were just headed to the movies to see a long-awaited showing of The Justice League.
I will forever miss hearing him say, 'Mom, I love you.' But I cherish the fact that those were the very last (words) he spoke to me. Bentley is thriving and a beautiful, loving, silly little toddler very much full of life and ready to take on the world just like Taylor and Griffin.
Bosque County crash victim Taylor Bradley
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