Former New York Yankee catcher Jim Leyritz could be facing a 15-year prison term for killing a woman while driving drunk last Friday in Florida, The New York Post reported Sunday.
Leyritz had been celebrating his 44th birthday at a Ft. Lauderdale nightclub when he struck and killed Freida Ann Veicht, 30, a waitress and mother of three who was heading home to her family after finishing her shift at the Original Steakhouse in Ft. Lauderdale.
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Leyritz was charged with driving under the influence and manslaughter, and set free on $11,000 bail nine hours after being arrested, according to The Post. Leyritz lawyer, Andrew Levy, told The Post on Sunday that Leyritz was distraught about the situation.
"He was looking at what he had to do now," Levy told The Post.
The victim reportedly called her husband just minutes before being killed. According to The Post, Veicht was planning on leaving her job at the restaurant to become a stay-at-home mom. Now, the family is instead planning her funeral and burial.
Veicht's husband, Jordan, told the post that their 5-year-old son, Julian, keeps asking for his mother.
"Why hasn't mommy come home? Will mommy be in the grass? Who's going to take care of me?," are the questions the boy asks, Jordan Veicht told The Post. "If we didn't have drunk driving, I wouldn't have to explain why my son's not going to have a mother," Jordan Veicht said.
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