GASTONIA, N.C. — A mother poured her heart out in court Tuesday as a woman was sentenced for killing her son.
[ALSO READ: Family of NC mother killed in DWI crash upset with court's sentence]
Victoria Keaveny was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for a crash that killed Adam Browne in October.
Keaveny and Adam Browne reportedly went out that night and were headed the same way in separate vehicles on East Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.
Keaveny’s car crashed into Adam Browne’s motorcycle at the intersection of South Belvedere Avenue and he later died.
Adam Browne's mother could not hold back her grief in court.
“My life has been scattered,” Holly Browne said.
Keaveny and Adam Browne reportedly had a long relationship of high and lows.
They were fighting addiction at the time of the wreck.
Keaveny was following Browne. She didn’t stop when Adam Browne slowed down and hit him. Keaveny continued driving for another 290 feet.
Her blood alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit, and she had methadone in her system.
Holly Browne said she adopted Adam Browne when he was a baby.
“The moment we knew of him, we were in love,” the mother said.
Holly Browne said she was diagnosed with cancer two years ago.
“Adam was my rock, my support, my reason for going with everything that I had,” she said. “One day she will be free of her cell, but I will never be free of the empty cell I am in.”
Keaveny didn’t speak in court.
Her attorney said that, on the night of the crash, police video captured her crying at the scene.
Her attorney said she just wants to accept her punishment.
Keaveny wrote a letter that defense attorney Steve Meier read to Holly Browne.
“If I could trade places with him, I would,” Meier read from the letter. “I hope that he forgives me”
Keaveny was underage at the time, but she was still served beer.
Browne’s family settled a civil suit with Wild Wing Cafe in Gastonia for his death.
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