A former Space Shuttle commander pleaded guilty in connection to a fatal car crash in June 2016 while he was under the influence.
James Halsell, 64, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault driving under the influence at the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse on Thursday in connection to the deaths of Niomi James, 11, and Jayla Parler, 13.
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As a part of his plea deal, Halsell will spend four years in prison before spending the next 10 years on probation, according to Alabama.com. If he violates the terms of his parole, he could go back to prison for another 16 years.
“The whole thing is a tragedy,” said Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb. “There are clearly no winners here. It’s a horrible thing for the family. You have a man who has done very good things, who in this case did a very, very, very bad thing. It just shows how thin the line is, and how fast and how far people can fall.”
The crash occurred during the early hours of June 6, 2016.
Halsell crashed into the back of the other vehicle, pushing it over the median, which caused the car to flip twice, according to Alabama.com at the time. The two girls, who authorities said were half-sisters, had been picked up by their father Pernell Deon James, 37. Another passenger, Shontel Latriva Cutts, was also in the vehicle.
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Neither of the girls were wearing their seatbelts, and both were ejected from the car.
During his time with NASA, Halsell flew five shuttle missions and spent more than 1,200 hours in space before retiring in 2006.
