ARANSAS COUNTY, Texas — A 27-year-old man will serve eight years in prison after being convicted of killing three people and seriously injuring another in a drunk driving crash that occurred just hours after one victim's wedding.
Michael Forsberg was sentenced Thursday to the minimum two-year prison term by an Aransas County jury for each of four charges: three counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault. However, Judge Patrick Flanigan ordered the sentences to run consecutively rather than concurrently, quadrupling Forsberg's time behind bars.
The deadly collision occurred on December 28, 2023, on 16th Street when Forsberg, traveling at excessive speed, ran a stop sign and struck a red SUV carrying four people who had attended a wedding celebration just 30 hours earlier.
The crash killed three members of the same family and seriously hurt a fourth person.
The victims were Timothy Greening, 34, who had married Ulku Kaya the day before; Timothy's parents, Pamela Greening and Robert Greening III; and Kaya, the sole survivor.
Surveillance footage showed Forsberg's vehicle traveled the same stretch of road in two seconds, while five other vehicles took six to 10 seconds. First responders found empty alcohol containers and boxes scattered around Forsberg's truck at the crash scene.
A blood test taken one hour after the collision revealed Forsberg's blood alcohol concentration was 0.139, well above the legal limit of 0.08.
During the sentencing phase, survivor Ulku Kaya and Robert Greening IV, son and brother of the victims, testified about their loss. Forsberg took responsibility for his actions, telling the court he had not consumed alcohol since the crash, despite initially pleading not guilty to the charges.
The jury deliberated approximately three hours before choosing the minimum sentence available under Texas law. Each intoxication manslaughter charge carried a maximum 20-year sentence, while the intoxication assault charge carried a maximum 10-year term.
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