Justice for #22: Teen driver gets stiff sentence in fatal crash

CLAYTON, Mo. - A tearful courtroom was stunned after a judge gave the maximum sentence to a teen accused of a fatal crash. Only FOX 2 was in the courtroom for the tense moments in a heartbreaking case. The sentencing hearing centered around victim Sara Howell—forever known as #22. It was her college number while playing sports. Outside of court, Kelly Barnard said, “I’ve got it right here on my arm—just so I can remember her all the time.” Barnard told us she was Howell’s best friend. She was in court to hear the fate of 19-year-old John Brink. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a fatal crash in Kirkwood in May 2024. Police say he ran a red light at 99 mph while drinking from a gallon jug of alcohol. “I came here fully expecting to hear 5 years’ probation,” Barnard said. Emotions were high in a packed courtroom with friends and family of both the defendant and victim. You could hear sobbing throughout the courtroom. The victim’s father cried on the stand, saying Sara did nothing wrong. Sara’s brother described her as the heart of the family. Sara’s #22 kept coming up. Barnard commented, “Interestingly enough, it was 22 years she spent in the public school system. I was not aware of that.” Kirkwood Police Detective Chris Beckman was there along with Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Trui Gaedke, who testified about citing the defendant for being a minor in possession of alcohol a month after the fatal crash. The defendant’s family remained silent in court. The defense attorney argued that a sentence of probation would allow the teen to warn others not to do what he did. After more than an hour of tearful testimony, Judge Richard Stewart sentenced brink to the maximum of ten years in prison. Barnard said it was “Validating. I really - just the way everything was going -hadn’t spent any time in jail. It didn’t seem like he was going to be held accountable and actually I was shocked to know that somebody did listen, and somebody did hear and somebody, you know, is speaking up for Sara.”