The tragic deaths of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew on August 29 rocked the sports world and their own families just hours before their sisters' wedding. The two hockey players were laid to rest in a joint funeral earlier this week, and on Friday, the man accused of killing the brothers faced prosecutors in court over his actions.
Accordingly Associated PressSean M. Higgins, 43, of Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of vehicular death, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a hearing on September 13, prosecutors outlined his alleged history of aggressive driving, leading the judge to order Higgins held in custody pending trial as a flight risk, where he could face up to 20 years in prison.
“You were probably driving like crazy, like I always say. And you're not listening to me, instead you're yelling at me,” Higgins' wife said when she called him from jail after his arrest, according to a district attorney.
Prosecutors said Higgins’ blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was .087, slightly above the legal .08 limit in New Jersey. He works in finance for an addiction treatment company and his wife told authorities he had been drinking regularly since working from home during the pandemic.
Related: Athletes Pay Tribute to Late NHL Star Johnny Gaudreau
Court documents show Higgins admitted to police that he had five or six beers that day and that he had been drinking while driving; he also failed a field sobriety test after being taken into custody. The prosecution said at the final hearing that he had been drinking at home after finishing a business meeting around 3 p.m. and later had a difficult conversation with his mother about his family.
Thirty-one-year-old Johnny and 29-year-old Matthew were both hit by Higgins with his vehicle while riding their bikes on the evening of August 29. Both were preparing to appear as best men at their sister’s wedding the next day.
“He stated he didn't even see them,” the judge said of Higgins' actions, and attributed the brothers' deaths to the driver's admission that he was “impatient” on the road.
At the Gaudreaus' joint funeral, their widows Meredith and Madeline mourned their husbands' deaths and admired their close-knit sisterly bond throughout their lives. Both were expecting children by their late husbands, and Johnny's wife Meredith announced her pregnancy in a moving funeral speech.