SHELBY, N.C. -- Friends and family gathered at Cecil M. Burton Funeral home in Shelby, N.C., Thursday to pay their final respects to Megan Sanders.

The 18-year-old died Saturday after she was seriously hurt in a car accident on Oct. 9, 2009. Investigators said the man behind the wheel, Brian Swindle, was driving drunk.

Megan's mother, Ashley Sanders, remembered her daughter as kind, beautiful and always smiling.

"The last thing I said to my child was I love you baby girl and that's the only comfort I really have right now," Sanders said.

State troopers said Swindle, who was Megan's boyfriend, was driving drunk at speeds estimated at 75 miles per hour when he crossed the center line and crashed into a tree.

After the wreck, Swindle was charged with DWI and felony injury with a motor vehicle. He made bond on those charges. But after Megan's death, the district attorney upgraded his charges to aggravated felony death by vehicle and second-degree murder.

Investigators spent a few days looking for Swindle before he turned himself in Thursday night.

Sanders said, "He needs to be in jail. He needs to pay for what he did to my child or he'll do it to somebody else."

Sanders hopes no one else will suffer the same fate as her daughter. She hopes Megan's death can serve as a lesson on the dangers of drinking and driving for the person behind the wheel and their passengers.

"Life is too precious and things can happen so fast. It’s not worth it," Sanders said.

Swindle was booked on $200,000 bond. He is expected in court Friday morning.