Brentwood man gets 2-6 years in fatal DWI

A Brentwood man was sentenced to 2 to 6 years in prison Thursday for killing a Bay Shore woman while driving drunk almost a year ago.

In sentencing Luis Lazo, 31, who pleaded guilty in January to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and other charges, Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson called on the State Legislature to stiffen the penalties for the crime.

"Your crime should be classified as a violent felony," Hudson said. "Without that classification, this carnage from such acts will continue."

If people who drank knew they could face up to 25 years in prison, they might be less tempted to drive drunk, Hudson said.

Laura Avrams, 38, was killed when the car she was riding in was hit head-on by Lazo's car on Brentwood Road in Brentwood.

"My spirit is broken," said Avrams' mother, Dorothy Stewart, 69. "The heartbreak I feel affects the mood of my whole family. . . . I hope this man takes the time in prison to think about what he's done and learns something from it."

Avrams' friend Maria McGrath, 25, who was injured in the crash, said, "You tore us all apart, Luis."

Saul Garcia, 40, who drove the other car, was Avrams' fiance.

"Laura was my love, and she will always be in my heart," Garcia said, sobbing. "Luis Lazo, how could you do this to me?"

Lazo hung his head and wiped tears as he listened.

"It is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life," Lazo said, as his parents cried in the courtroom. "I'm really sorry for everyone I hurt in the accident."

Hudson said he believed Lazo's remorse, but that it would not undo the pain he had caused with his recklessness.

"You were an otherwise decent person until you committed this horrific act," Hudson said.