Shelley Wentworth, the Georgetown alumna who killed AU student Andrew Burr in a drunken-driving accident last year, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Monday.
In January, Wentworth ran a red light and struck a car carrying Burr and four other AU students, killing Burr and injuring other passengers. Wentworth's blood alcohol level was .13, which was .05 above the legal limit, The Eagle previously reported.
Kyle Bastanchury was in the car with Burr and suffered two spinal fractures. He is now Burr's representative and is filing a suit against Wentworth on Burr's behalf. He has been at all of Wentworth's court appearances.
Bastanchury said Wentworth requested to submit herself voluntarily to jail during her plea Monday, which means after the sentencing she can deliver herself to the prison.
A judge will sentence Wentworth Jan. 14, according to the U.S. attorney's office. D.C. mandates a two-year jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter, but a judge can shorten or lengthen the sentence.
"I would probably be happier if she got 25 years," Bastanchury said. "But at this point, all I want is my friend back. I'd trade anything for that."
Bastanchury has to meet with a lawyer and estimate his friend's monetary worth before the sentencing. They will have to estimate how much Burr's assets were worth and how much money he could have been making now, Bastanchury said.
It's a job that was too hard for Burr's fianc? or family to undertake. Bastanchury said it is hard to predict what the future could have held for Burr. He was a literature major and a band member with ambitions to be anything from an English teacher to a rock star.
"So you think to yourself, what if the band took off and became the next Green Day or something, what would it be worth?" Bastanchury said. "What is any college student worth? ... When I think about it, I think how much is my friend worth, and you just can't measure it"
