(KTXL) — A Marysville man was sentenced to just under 10 years in prison for a deadly hit-and-run that happened in January.

Around 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 14, two teens were struck by a car on B Street near 24th Street. 

The Yuba County District Attorney’s Office identified them as 15-year-old Carlos Rodriguez Camarillo and 13-year-old Jastelyn Hernandez Garcia. 

Camarillo was thrown about 20 feet and was severely injured. Marysville officers found Garcia unresponsive on the shoulder of the road. 

Both were taken to the hospital, but Garcia later died from her injuries.

A third person was with them the night of the crash, and she told officers that they were walking from one quince años to another down the road, using their phones as flashlights. 

She recounted to officers that she remembered seeing bright lights behind them, and when she turned to look, the car struck her friends. According to the DA, she remembered hearing tires screeching, but the vehicle reportedly did not stop. 

The DA said video from a nearby business shows Camarillo placed himself closest to the roadway to “protect his friends who were walking along the shoulder and out of the roadway.”

Investigators were able to find the driver just five days later. The DA identified him as 23-year-old Justin Taylor Preston. 

According to the DA, Preston told investigators he knew he had hit something but that he thought it was a “piece of furniture.” He also allegedly told them he couldn’t see well that night because his windshield defrosters were not working. 

The California Highway Patrol and Marysville Police did a vehicle inspection together and said the truck’s defroster was found to be “fully functional.” 

Preston was arrested and pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter and to the hit-and-run injuring Camarillo. He has no prior criminal history, and the DA said he wrote letters of condolences to both families. 

He was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.