A Texas teen who killed six Indian-origin people in a head-on crash in 2023 has been sentenced to 65 years in prison. Authorities said 19-year-old Luke Garrett Resecker, who was 17 when the accident took place, was under the influence of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) when he veered his car. The crash happened around 4 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2023, on U.S. Highway 67 near County Road 1119, south of Cleburne.An Indian family living in Georgia was in the car that Resecker veered into. The family was on their way back from Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose. Cops found THC inside Resecker’s car and toxicology confirmed active THC in his system when the crash occurred. Assistant District Attorneys Connor Day and Stephanie Miller, who prosecuted the case for Johnson and Somervell counties, called the crash “a sobering reminder of the irreversible consequences of impaired and reckless driving”, CBS News reported.
Rushil Barri was driving the minivan in which the Indian family went on a safari.
The victims were Naveena Potabathula, 36; Nageswararao Ponnada, 64; Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60; 10-year-old Krithik Potabathula; and 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula. The driver of the minivan 28-year-old Rushil Barri also died. Rushil’s cousin, Lokesh, was visiting from Georgia with his 9-year-old son, Nishidha Potabathula, 10-year-old daughter, Krithik Potabathula, his wife, Naveena Potabathula, his mother-in-law, Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, and father-in-law, Nageswararao Ponnada, who were visiting from India. They were all in the car with Barri.
19-year-old Luke Garrett Resecker has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for causing the crash under the influence of THC.
Lokesh was the only survivor from the crash, but he was left paralyzed from the waist down. He lost his wife, two children, cousin and in-laws in the crash. Resecker also had a passenger who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. Resecker was initially charged with six counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of intoxication assault, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana.
