A 16 year old boy from a wealthy Texas family was driving drunk when he crashed into four people standing at the side of the road with a disabled vehicle. Four of his own passengers were thrown from the vehicle, one of whom suffered a brain injury and can no longer move or speak.
Authorities have said the teen and friends were seen on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a store. He had seven passengers in his Ford F-350 pickup, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to trial testimony. His truck slammed into four people standing near a disabled car on Burleson-Retta Road, killing Brian Jennings, 43, Breanna Mitchell, 24, Shelby Boyles, 21, and her mother, Hollie Boyles, 52.
According to the courts, however, it wasn’t really Ethan Couch’s fault. He can’t help it that he suffers from a condition called “affluenza”.
