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Austin Keith Seagraves, now 21, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for striking high school sweethearts in August 2022, killing 22-year-old Arielle Starr Dryden-Bera, and critically injuring her new husband, Fidel Angel Castro, 23.
On Aug. 24, 2022, while the couple was out enjoying the night to get ice cream, they were struck by Seagraves' Toyota Camry in the area of Aquahart Road and Oakwood Road in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said.
The driver of the Toyota fled the scene and one took photos of Seagraves running from the crash scene, along with two passengers in the Camry who were also later detained, witnesses said.
Starr was pronounced dead by first responders following the hit-and-run, while Castro was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries.
Seagraves was driving more than 50 mph in a 30-mph zone on Aquahart Road when he overcorrected in an attempt to avoid a curb and veered onto a sidewalk, striking Castro and Dryden-Bera, investigators discovered.
Following the crash, Seagraves pulled his shirt over his head to conceal his identity and ran from the scene, at no point calling for help or rendering aid to either of his victims, they added.
The front and back seat passenger were also seen running away without stopping to help.
It was later determined that Seagraves, who did not have a driver’s license, was distracted while speeding leading up to the crash. Nearly an hour after the crash, Seagraves returned to the scene, along with family members.
Seagraves pleaded guilty in May last year to negligent manslaughter by automobile, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
In total, Seagraves was sentenced to 25 years, with all but seven years suspended, plus five years of supervised probation when he is released.
According to their family, weeks before her life was taken, Dryden-Bera and Castro bought their first home in Maryland.
"They were high school sweethearts; they grew up together, traveled across the country, and eventually graduated from the University of Davis together," they noted.
Castro was treated for critical injuries for several days, though "his body (healed), and heart (was) broken into millions of pieces."
“Fidel and Arielle were high school sweethearts who had just married after graduating from college,” Leitess said. “They had just purchased their first home and had bright futures ahead.
"They were going on a pleasant walk for ice cream when their lives were forever changed.
"(Seagraves') actions driving speeding in a 30 mph zone, fleeing the scene and abandoning the two people he injured was horrendous.”
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