BUTTE -The young Butte woman who struck a young man with her vehicle and then fled the scene, leaving him to die in the street, was sentenced to two years in prison. The victim's family said that justice was served, but it was a hollow justice.
“Shania ... we feel bad for their family too, but they got to understand, she’s still alive, and our son is gone,” Austin’s father, Pete Nieves, said after the sentencing.
Shania O’Brien was sentenced to seven years in the Montana Women’s Prison was five years suspended, for her involvement in the July 3rd, 2023, hit and run that killed 23-year-old Austin Nieves. During emotional testimony the day before the sentencing, O’Brien addressed the Nieves family.
WATCH: Butte hit-and-run driver gets 2 years for leaving victim to die
“I’m sorry for the ways that I’ve hurt you, and I’m sorry for leaving the scene, and I know Austin was loved and he was beautiful, and I’m just so sorry,” Shania O’Brien said during Monday’s hearing.
O’Brien had been drinking with friends the evening she hit Austin and his brother Connor, who had been lighting fireworks on Granite Street just before they were hit.
Connor survived with minor injuries. O’Brien left the scene and didn’t report her involvement to the police until the next day.
She pleaded guilty in November to felony failure to render aid in an accident that involved death. Prosecutors argued O’Brien was only concerned for herself that night.
“She crushed a man to death, left him to die alone, and in that moment, and the moments following, his life didn’t matter,” Prosecutor Jessica Best said.
Judge Mike Salvagni agreed O’Brien’s actions deserved punishment.
“The defendant’s conduct in failing to stop on July 3, 2023, to render aid and provide necessary information to law enforcement was reprehensible,” the judge told O’Brien before delivering his sentence on Tuesday.
O’Brien was ordered to pay more than $22,000 in restitution and was taken into custody after sentencing.
“She has her life, where Austin will never have his. All the milestones he tried to reach, he was a good boy, he had a future,” Austin’s mother, Stacey Edwards, said after the sentencing.
