An Orange County jury has found Jeffrey David Kirby guilty of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated in the death of mixed martial arts icon and UFC Hall of Famer Charles "Mask" Lewis.
Kirby faces as much as 13 years in prison. He will be sentenced on February 4.
"At least he won't be killing or hurting anyone else for a few years," Lewis's sister, Kaya C.D. Lewis, told the Orange County Register. "We got him off the streets for awhile, but I am still very angry. That was my baby brother he killed."
Kirby was driving drunk and with marijuana in his system on March 11, 2009, when he spun out, hit Lewis's Ferrari and caused the crash that killed Lewis and seriously injured his girlfriend, Lacy Lynn White. Kirby had previously been convicted of DUI in 2002.
Lewis, widely known as Mask, was one of the first entrepreneurs to recognize the growth potential in MMA. He started attending MMA shows and selling shirts out of his van and ended up turning TapouT into a multimillion-dollar business. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July of 2009.
Kirby faces as much as 13 years in prison. He will be sentenced on February 4.
"At least he won't be killing or hurting anyone else for a few years," Lewis's sister, Kaya C.D. Lewis, told the Orange County Register. "We got him off the streets for awhile, but I am still very angry. That was my baby brother he killed."
Kirby was driving drunk and with marijuana in his system on March 11, 2009, when he spun out, hit Lewis's Ferrari and caused the crash that killed Lewis and seriously injured his girlfriend, Lacy Lynn White. Kirby had previously been convicted of DUI in 2002.
Lewis, widely known as Mask, was one of the first entrepreneurs to recognize the growth potential in MMA. He started attending MMA shows and selling shirts out of his van and ended up turning TapouT into a multimillion-dollar business. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July of 2009.
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