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Chris DeVitt, left, talks to GHS students about his drunk driving accident that killed his friend.

Wearing a Yankees baseball cap and looking like your average young 20-something, Christopher DeVitt stood before a roomful of Goshen High School students and explained how one bad decision ended his friend’s life.

On January 21, 2006, DeVitt killed his friend, Bryan Steinard, in a high-speed drunk driving accident. At around 2 a.m., DeVitt, then 19, wrapped the passenger side of his sports car around a telephone pole on South Montgomery Street in Walden, crushing Bryan. The two had been drinking underage at a local bar. At the time of the accident, DeVitt’s blood alcohol content was 0.15 percent.

DeVitt explained the effects of his actions. He talked about his physical injuries – DeVitt spent 16 days in a coma and when he awoke, could not remember his family. He broke a vertebra in his neck and faced potential paralysis; he wore a cervical halo for 63 days; he suffered from internal bleeding and head trauma.

But mostly, he talked about his emotional pain. He was tormented by the grief of losing his friend and the guilt of being responsible for taking his life. He underwent psychological counseling to deal with his pain and still sees a counselor today.

On the other side of the spectrum, DeVitt also faced criminal charges. On May 24, 2007, DeVitt stood before Orange County Judge Nicholas DeRosa and pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

He was sentenced to one year in Orange County Jail and served four months. DeVitt made it clear to students that his sentence was shortened for one reason only – because Bryan’s mother, Matilda Garrison, surprisingly asked the judge to be lenient with his sentencing.

“Bryan’s mother pleaded with the judge for me to not go to jail,” said DeVitt. “She said that prison wouldn’t help me.”

Today, DeVitt is on parole. He travels from high school to high school, talking to students about his painful and emotional ordeal.

When asked if he began making his presentations because it was a part of his parole sentencing, DeVitt paused. He then said, “I began these presentations after Bryan died – before I faced the judge; before I was sentenced; before I went to jail. I do this because I want people to know the real consequences of drunk driving and that it takes only one second to change your entire life and the life of so many others. I do this in memory of my friend.”