NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – A teenager whose plea deal was scrapped after prosecutors found online images of him partying was spared jail time Tuesday for a car crash that killed his close friend.
Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn ordered Michael Ramirez, 17, of Hudson, to perform 1,032 hours of community service. Ramirez also cannot drive for seven years.
Lynn deferred Ramirez’s 12-month jail sentence on two counts of vehicular assault for two years of probation.
Last month, Nathan Hergenhahn’s mother, Patty Cyr, called for prosecutors to drop a plea deal with Ramirez after seeing photos on his MySpace page that allegedly showed Ramirez at underage drinking parties.
Then, last week, after a chance meeting with Ramirez at her son’s grave, she had a change of heart and wanted the deal reinstated to spare Ramirez jail time.
Ramirez lost control of his car while speeding on Old Derry Road in Hudson on July 30, 2006, crashing sideways into an oncoming SUV driven by Kellie Carlin, then 45, of Hudson.
Hergenhahn, 16, was killed. Ramirez, Carlin and her 13-year-old daughter were injured.
“Our grieving for Nathan will never stop, but I also know that Mickey Ramirez loved him, too,” Cyr told The Telegraph on Friday. “We don’t want to see kids visiting Mickey in jail. It’s not going to bring Nathan back.”
Dozens of high school students and their parents gathered at Alvirne High School Monday night to remember Hergenhahn on the anniversary of the crash.
“If it were not for my actions last year we would not have to be here tonight,” Ramirez told the gathering. “It is with deep remorse I apologize for my actions. Someday I hope you will all forgive me.”
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