DUI Boater Gets 10 Years In Prison

A man who killed a 10-year-old boy while driving his boat drunk has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

David Hatyina expressed his remorse in court earlier that day. “Since the time I struck and killed this 10-year-old boy, I can’t eat or sleep … So help me God, I am sorry,” he said. “I feel so badly. The pain will never go away.”

The 51-year-old said he has never forgiven himself for drinking and taking a small amount of cocaine the day he struck Tony Borcia last summer on Lake Petite. He swore to never use drugs or alcohol again.

Hatyina’s defense attorneys requested that he be spared prison time because his 9-year-old daughter has Downs Syndrome and other medical problems.

Judge Clint Hull said he understood Hatyina’s regret and remorse, but that didn’t change his choice to operate a boat under the influence. “It was too late for your family and for the Borcia family.”

The sentence hearing started Thursday with testimony from Tony’s parents and siblings. The boy’s father, Jim Borcia, said that he misses his son every day and that he has trouble sleeping. He admitted that the tragedy has become his life.

He described his son as a “beautiful child whose smile lit up a room. … the only pain Tony ever caused (before his death) was during childbirth.”

The 10-year-old was tubing with his father and three siblings when he died.

Hatyina’s ex-wife also testified at the sentence hearing and described him as generous and attentive to the needs of his daughter. She thinks he is remorseful for what he did.

“I’ve had phone calls where he’s cried and he’s sat at my kitchen table and cried and told me he’s very sorry he killed a child,” she said.

Do you think Hatyina’s sentence was too harsh?

[Image via Shuttershock]