A man who pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of crash that killed a 13-year-old boy riding a bicycle in Goodyear in 2022 received the maximum sentence of 8.75 years in prison on Wednesday.

Richard Romo, 44, was driving a pickup truck near 182nd and San Gabriel drives on April 26, 2022, at around 2:45 p.m. when police say he struck the boy.

Court documents say two child witnesses told police the boy was riding his bicycle very quickly when they heard what sounded like an “explosion” after a truck struck him.

The witnesses told police they saw the truck’s driver get out of the car to check the boy’s condition before shouting an expletive and fleeing the area in the truck.

Documents say responding officers performed chest compressions on the boy until he was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced deceased. An autopsy found the boy died from blunt force trauma with a fracture to the base of his skull, one to four rib fractures, a contusion to the brain and internal bleeding among other injuries.

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Court documents say police obtained video surveillance footage from nearby homes which showed a man getting out of the vehicle for about a minute after the crash before getting back in the vehicle and speeding away.

Police obtained a search warrant for Romo’s home on April 28, 2022, where they found a Ford F-250 pickup registered to Romo. Documents state that, during a police interview, Romo said the collision was an accident and that “his life was over.”

Court documents state Romo had four previous DUI convictions and a history of using marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, though Romo stated he hadn’t consumed alcohol or used illicit drugs since 2020 and 2017 respectively. He was last released from prison in January 2020 for aggravated DUI according to the Arizona Department of Corrections.

In a defendant statement obtained through a public records request, Romo didn’t wish to comment on the incident itself and asked for the presumptive sentence of three-and-a-half years.

“He is sorry the offense occurred, he is sorry to the family, and is sorry to the Court,” the statement reads. “He had a lapse of judgment and being in jail for a year and dealing with his mental health has shown him how bad it is.”

Court documents say the boy’s parents asked that Romo receive the maximum sentence of 8.75 years during the sentencing.

Romo was ordered to begin his sentence at the Arizona Department of Corrections on Wednesday with a 376-day credit for his time in jail.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Goodyear man sentenced for hit-and-run that killed 13-year-old