'Emotionally Swayed' Judge Cuts Sentence For Drunk Driver in Morris Triple-Fatal Crash

A judge has chopped off a quarter of a 20-year sentence for a man convicted of driving drunk in Morris County before crashing his car and killing three passengers in 2013.

Judge James Demarzo reduced the sentence of Luis Torres, 39, by five years, from 20 to 15, according to dailyrecord.com. The original sentence was handed down in June.

Torres must serve 85-percent of his sentence, or 12 years and nine months, before he becomes parole eligible. Under the initial sentence he would not have been parole eligible for the first 17 years.

Demarzo said he may have been “emotionally swayed” after hearing from the victims’ family during sentencing, and felt 20 years should have been better reserved for someone who purposely committed a violent crime, like stabbing or shooting a person, the report said.

Torres was leaving a party at Lake Tomahawk in Sparta headed for Jersey City in August 2013 with eight passengers in his vehicle. Torres was speeding after drinking at the party and smoking marijuana, flipped his vehicle in Jefferson, resulting in the deaths of Lucila Colon, 62; Tevia Booth, 11; and Julissa Colon, 36, who was pregnant.

Torres was initially charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, three counts of second degree vehicular homicide, and five counts of fourth-degree assault by auto.