BALLSTON SPA, N.Y (NEWS10) — A Troy teen received a sentence of five to 15 years in prison after crashing his car while high on marijuana, killing a 14-year-old and seriously injuring a 16-year-old in June 2024. The Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office said Everett R. Hatlee, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide in June.
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Hatlee admitted that on June 29, 2024, he caused 14-year-old Kiera Ebert’s death when he drove his car at a reckless speed down Fonda Road in Waterford. Hatlee lost control of the car, went airborne, flipping and spinning through the air, snapped utility poles in half, before colliding with the ground.
The DA’s office said the impact of the collision ejected the 15-year-old from the car, dying at the scene of the crash. Blood tests showed Hatlee had spent hours and seconds before the crash smoking marijuana, officials said.
“No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child, let alone because of someone’s criminal choice to speed and drive recklessly, all while impaired by cannabis,” the two victims’ mother, Cherie Ebert, said. “There is simply no excuse for this crime, where it claimed the life of an innocent child and seriously injured another and has directly affected so many lives, families and communities.”…