A man who crashed a car in Hertfordshire, killing a 13-year-old girl, has been jailed for 12 years and eight months.
Dwane Moody, 40, of Rowney Lane, Dane End, was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and a series of other offences.
He was also disqualified from driving for 17 years and four months.
The fatal collision happened at around 7.30pm on 31 January after Moody took another guest’s car from a party in Dane End with three teenagers as passengers.
Police said Moody had consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel and was seen driving erratically and at speed.
As he travelled along Whitehill, he failed to negotiate a corner and the vehicle left the road and went through a fence.
Evelyn Haylock, 13, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, suffered serious injuries.
She was taken to hospital but died from her injuries on 4 February.
Two other teenagers in the vehicle suffered minor soft-tissue injuries.
Despite what they had just experienced, they called 999 and attempted to give Evelyn first aid while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Attempt to cover up crash
Police said that following the collision, Moody attempted to persuade the teenagers to provide investigators with a false account of what had happened.
He allegedly told them to claim another vehicle had forced their car off the road.
Moody also threatened one of the teenagers before leaving the scene.
He was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured, causing death while otherwise in accordance with a licence, two counts of perverting the course of justice and aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent.
Detective Constable Lewis Stanley said Moody had made “reckless and selfish decisions” and praised the teenagers for their actions following the collision and their attempts to save Evelyn.
‘He shattered my entire universe’
In an emotional victim impact statement, Evelyn’s mother described her daughter as someone who “absolutely loved life”.
She told the court:
“The defendant didn’t just cause a crash; he shattered my entire universe.”
Evelyn’s father described his daughter as “the light of all our worlds” and said her family would continue to keep her name and memory in their hearts.
Moody will now serve his prison sentence and will remain banned from driving for more than 17 years.
