GALVESTON, Texas – A repeat drunk driver has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing two Galveston teens in a crash in 2022, Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady announced Monday.
Keith Aaron Brazier, 29, pleaded guilty to two charges of murder and one charge of intoxicated assault.
Investigators said on Sept. 2, 2022, Brazier was speeding and driving while intoxicated when he ran a red light and struck a Jeep that was carrying four Ball High School students on 41st and Avenue O on Galveston Island. One of the students was killed at the scene and another died in the following days while at the University of Texas Medical Branch. A third student suffered severe head trauma but survived the crash, authorities said.
On the day of the crash, Brazier had reportedly been released from prison at 10:30 a.m. for a conviction of driving while intoxicated, which was his third offense, less than eight hours before the deadly crash. Brazier returned to Galveston County that morning.
A witness who was in Brazier’s vehicle at the time of the crash told police that he and Brazier had visited multiple bars on Galveston Island throughout the day. Brazier was removed from the Sharky’s bar by management about an hour before the crash, investigators said.
Galveston police obtained a search warrant for Brazier’s blood after the crash and later test results showed Brazier to have a blood alcohol content of 0.217, which is well over double the legal limit of 0.08.
At the time of the plea, the parents of the two murder victims gave victim impact testimony in court. The family had approved of the plea for 50 years and attempted to describe to the court how the loss of their sons had affected their families and community.