BOSTON, June 28, 2016—A drunk driver will spend up to 12 years in state prison after admitting responsibility for the death last year of 18-year-old Fritz Philogene in Dorchester, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

GREGORY McCOY (D.O.B. 1/10/88) of Dorchester pleaded guilty to manslaughter while operating under the influence, leaving the scene of a collision causing death, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury. Assistant District Attorney Gregory Henning of the DA’s Senior Trial Unit recommended a sentence of 12 to 14 years in state prison. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Beverly J. Cannone imposed a term of 8 to 12 years.

Prior to sentencing, Cannone heard from Christopher Graham, a friend of Philogene’s family who spoke on their behalf. Graham said they hold no animosity toward McCoy but feel that he must be held accountable for the decisions he made and actions he took.

Had the case proceeded to trial, Henning would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that McCoy was driving a friend’s 2012 Cadillac CTS at a high rate of speed in a residential area as he approached the intersection of Norwell Street and Talbot Avenue on the night of May 19, 2015. The Cadillac slammed into the rear of a BMW stopped at a red light, sending both vehicles careening through the intersection just before 10:10 pm.

Philogene, who was at the corner with his bicycle and apparently waiting to cross the street, was struck and died at the scene. Henning would have proven that Philogene’s fatal injuries came as a result of McCoy’s actions.

The crash also injured the 33-year-old driver of the BMW and McCoy’s passenger, a 26-year-old Quincy man who owned the Cadillac.

The evidence would also have shown that McCoy extricated himself from the badly-damaged Cadillac and fled the scene on foot, leaving a blood trail from the vehicle’s final resting point to his neighborhood. Responding Boston Police investigators were assisted by multiple civilian witnesses who came forward to share their observations of the crash, its aftermath, and McCoy’s alleged flight, leading to his identification as the Cadillac’s operator and proof of his impairment at the time of the crash.

Boston Police detectives assigned to the Fatal Collision Investigative Team located McCoy at his Wentworth Street home. He transported to Carney Hospital, where a blood sample was taken; analysis of that sample, taken on the morning of May 20, suggested that his blood-alcohol content at the time of the collision was above .08, the legal limit for driving.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. McCoy was represented by attorney Anne Rousseve.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.