(Click on the image for Tracee Wilkins' News4 report)
From WJLA's report:
A man plead guilty today to DUI manslaughter in a December 2018 crash that seriously injured a Falls Church couple and killed all three of their children.
Thomas Hawks, 27, faces up to 36 years in prison for the 3 counts of manslaughter and 2 counts of DUI causing serious injury that he plead guilty to. He will be sentenced on Sept. 26.
The Indian Head Highway crash killed siblings 5-year-old twins Alexander Mejia and Rosalie Mejia, and 1-year-old Isaac Mejia. Their parents sustained serious injuries and spent weeks in the hospital recovering.
At Hawks' plea hearing, Juanita Mejia pleaded with drivers to be more careful on the roads, and to not drink and drive. She and her husband Alexis said they are grateful court proceedings are almost over, and that they fought for justice for their children.
Police say Hawks told them he was coming home from a Washington Redskins game, and blew a .17 on a Breathalyzer test after the crash — twice the legal limit. The Mejias were heading home from church at the time of the crash.
From WUSA9's report:
Driver Thomas Daniel Hawks admitted to telling police he had consumed 10 beers at FedEx field during a Redskins game before climbing into his 2007 Silverado pickup truck to drive home the evening of Dec. 30, 2018.
Evidence showed Hawks was going 69 mph as he approached a red light on southbound Indian Head Highway at Kerby Hill Road, where he rear-ended the Mejia family's sedan.