Maryland

Man Pleads Guilty in DUI Crash That Killed 3 Young Siblings

A man pleaded guilty in the drunken driving crash that killed three young siblings in December.

Five-year-old twins Alexander and Rosalie Mejia, and their 1-year-old brother, Isaac, died Dec. 30 when Thomas Hawks drove a pickup truck into the back of the family's car on Indian Head Highway in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

“As many know, we were coming from church,” said their mother, Juanita Mejia. “They didn’t deserve to leave. We had so many plans with them.”

Hawks' blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. At the scene of the crash, he couldn't walk without assistance. When he was placed against a guardrail, he fell over it. And when he was put in a police cruiser, he passed out.

“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Juanita Mejia said. “We’re so happy this is almost over.”

Hawks' plea spares the parents the pain of a trial.

“You just have everything replaying in your head from everything you remember that day,” Alexis Mejia said. “And that and everything else is why we just want this to end.”

Alexander and Rosalie would have turned 6 recently.

“We had to sit at their gravesite missing out on the plans that we had for them as graduating kindergarteners,” Juanita Mejia said through tears.

Hawks faces up to 36 years in prison and a fine up to $45,000.

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