Drunk driver who hit, killed 16-year-old skateboarder sentenced

(FOX 9) - A man charged with drunk driving that led to the death of a 16-year-old skateboarder in a crash will spend nearly five years behind bars, but his family believes it's not long enough. 

"He got in his car drunk, he squealed his tires, pulled off at a dangerous speed… to the ultimate location of this accident," Peter Johnson, the prosecutor for the case, told FOX 9.

As part of a plea agreement, defendant Bobby Brookins has been sentenced to 57 months – nearly five years – behind bars for a drunk driving crash that killed 16-year-old Dychaun Chew last summer.

Chew had just finished his sophomore year at Minneapolis South High School, and was out doing what he loved – riding his skateboard – when Brookins plowed into him.

A man charged with drunk driving that led to the death of a 16-year-old skateboarder in a crash will spend nearly five years behind bars, but his family believes it's not long enough. 

"[I’m] feeling like the whole world stopped when the doctors told me due to his injuries… wouldn’t make it… final goodbyes. [I'll] never forget walking into room seeing lifeless body on the stretcher," said Chew’s mother Dynese during an emotional victim impact statement Thursday.

Brookins already had two DWI convictions on his record, and was still on probation without a valid driver’s license when he killed Chew in an out-of-control crash. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit – his speeds 55 mph in a residential zone.

"I was raised not to have any regrets… I regret that whole day. I want to apologize to the family for the pain I put this family through," Brookins said during his sentencing. 

Chew’s family said after the apology and sentencing that they believed Brookins should have gotten a lot more time behind bars.

"57 months for a life seems to be difficult to take – our fight doesn’t stop here," said Dedric Willis, Dychaun’s uncle.