INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — Two years ago a road rage crash killed two high school students and seriously injured three others.
Friday a Marion county judge sent 29-year-old Daniel Cannon to prison for six years for causing the wreck then leaving the scene.
Outside of courts, victims hugged and cried. Their two year ordeal is over, but some of them wanted Daniel Cannon to get a longer prison sentence.
'6 years I think is kinda unfair I wanted a more fair sentence," Kris Church said he wanted a term of 10 years.
Church and two other teenagers were nearly killed. Their close friends Taylor Parsons and Brandon Gross weren't as fortunate.
They died in the horrific wreck. Cannon was chasing the SUV at speeds of more than 100 miles an hour when it lost control and rolled down an I-70 exit ramp. It's been a painful two years for the victims and their families.
"I got two screws in my shoulders and a rod in my leg and something in my heart. I see a doctor every six months," Michael Blackmore said.
A jury convicted Cannon of multiple counts of criminal recklessness and leaving the scene of an accident. In court he told the judge and his victims, "I wasn't trying to do anything to anyone It bugs me every day. I am not a heartless man. I am really, really sorry."
His mother Catherine Gaskins told the judge her son is a good father and a good person.
"He's not the person they are making him out to be. He has a very loving heart," Gaskins explained after the hearing. "He has a lot of love in him and he's hurt by today as well as I am."
Judge Shelia Carlisle said she believed Cannon was sorry but called his reckless high speed driving, "Astounding ... You never gave up. You never let it go."
Victims will carry their injuries for the rest of their lives. Olivia Evans didn't enroll at IU as she planned and doesn't drive. "I have flashbacks of that event," Evans said "I have PTSD. I shake. It's just a daily struggle."
Church suffers from back and brain injuries. "He always says he's like a good hearted person but his actions left us with heartless bodies," said Church.
The high speed chase started after an altercation in a city park. It wound through city streets before heading up the interstate. Judge Carlisle said, "There were people put at risk everywhere."
Cannon will be out of prison in less than six years. He's already served more than a year in the Marion County jail.