NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after a drunken crash that took the life of his girlfriend back in 2021.

36-year-old Jonathan M. Brownell was sentenced on Friday to an active 12 years in prison after being convicted of aggravated vehicular manslaughter in April.

The DUI crash happened around 2:30 a.m. on September 21, 2021, on Interstate 64 near Granby Street. Prosecutors say Brownell sped through a construction zone and narrowly avoided workers before he crashed into a sweeper truck, killing 23-year-old Samantha Leigh Sims.

Sims was killed on impact, and Brownell had to be extracted after being pinned under the sweeper. Police said his blood alcohol content was estimated to be between .16 and .18 at the time and he was driving about 95 to 103 mph.

“This case is a tragedy of Mr. Brownell’s making. Mr. Brownell drove drunk and killed his girlfriend,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “If Mr. Brownell had called for a ride, Ms. Sims would be alive today, and he would be free. It all could have been prevented.”

Brownell had another four years suspended on the conditions that his license be revoked, he have no contact with Sims’ family and that he complete three years of uniform good behavior and supervised probation.