Seymour Man Going to Jail for Crash that Killed Naugatuck Teen

After being sentenced to four years in prison, the 21-year-old Seymour man who killed his best friend in a drunk driving accident walked out of court crying, the Valley Independent Sentinel reports.

The man, Manuel Esteves, had pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle and second-degree assault with a motor vehicle. He was sentenced Tuesday. 

Esteves was drunk and speeding when his car crashed in Seymour on Oct. 31, 2012, according to a report previously published on Patch that cites police. A passenger in his car, Korey Jordan, 19, of Naugatuck, was killed in the accident. Two other teens were injured. 

Jordan grew up in Derby, attended Shelton Public Schools and graduated in 2011 from the HVAC Program at Emmett O’Brien Technical High School [Read his obituary here].

Jordan's family spoke at the trial on Tuesday, and they asked for the maximum sentence under a plea deal that had been reached — six years.

“I’m hurt, angry, and most of all, I’m disappointed,” his father, Kenneth Jordan, said, according to the Valley Indy. “Any time spent incarcerated is nothing compared to what myself and the rest of my family will experience for a lifetime.”

Jordan's mother also spoke at the trial.

And following statements from his family, asking Judge Karen Sequino for leniency, Esteves reportedly turned to the Jordan family and begged for forgiveness.

“I think about Korey every night and every day,” he said, according to the Valley Indy. “There’s nothing I could do to express how truly sorry I am. Nothing is going to change, I can’t do anything about it, but I’m here accepting my responsibility for what I did.”

In addition to four years in prison, the Valley Indy reports that Judge Sequino ordered Esteves to serve five years probation, 200 hours of community service and to donate $100 to a charity in Jordan's name every year on the anniversary of the accident.