Luke Garrett Resecker, Texas teen sentenced to 65 years for head on crash that killed 6 out of 7 occupants of minivan after found to be driving recklessly with THC in his system. Sole survivor was left paralyzed from the waist down.
A Texas teen has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for a head-on crash that led to six people killed — including two children — along with leaving his passenger with a traumatic brain injury on Boxing Day in 2023.
Luke Garrett Resecker, 19, at the time of the December 26, 2023 crash was under the influence of THC when he veered into oncoming traffic in Johnson County just on 4 p.m.
The victims, including members of a Georgia family, had spent the day visiting Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose.
Wrong way driver kills six out of seven occupants in minivan leaving surviving family member paralyzed
Prosecutors said Resecker, who was 17 at the time, crossed into the opposite lane and slammed into a Honda Odyssey minivan carrying the family in a wrong way crash. The collision led to six of the seven occupants in the minivan being killed and the seventh permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
The surviving occupant, Lokesh Potabathula, lost his wife, two children, cousin and in-laws in the crash.
One of the victims and the driver of the minivan, 28-year-old Rushil Barri, was from Irving. The other five victims were from Alpharetta, Georgia: Naveena Potabathula, 36; Nageswararao Ponnada, 64; Sitamahalakshmi Ponnada, 60; 10-year-old Krithik Potabathula; and 9-year-old Nishidha Potabathula.
Resecker’s passenger, 17-year-old Preston Glass, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury that left him mentally impaired.
According to authorities, THC was found inside Resecker’s 2014 Chevy Silverado, and toxicology confirmed active THC in his system when the crash occurred.
Jury took just hours to convict THC teen driver
Officers at the scene found THC wax, a vape pen and marijuana inside Resecker’s truck.
Assistant District Attorneys Connor Day and Stephanie Miller, who prosecuted the case for Johnson and Somervell counties according to FOX4 called the crash ‘a sobering reminder of the irreversible consequences of impaired and reckless driving.’
Resecker was initially charged with six counts of intoxication manslaughter, two counts of intoxication assault, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana.
Due to injuries from the crash, he was placed on monitored home confinement after bonding out of Johnson County jail.
During the week long trial in Johnson County, Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Miller recited each victim’s name in her closing argument.
‘Justice for Rushil. Justice for Naveena. Justice for Nageswararao. Justice for Sitamahalakshmi.
‘Justice for Kruthik. Justice for Nishidha. Justice for Lokesh — and justice for this community,’ she told jurors.
After a week of testimony, the jury took just hours to reach a decision.
Resecker was sentenced to 65 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, a term prosecutors said reflected both the magnitude of the tragedy and the reckless disregard for human life.
