Christopher Thayer said he did not intend to kill Djuana Latshaw, but said he knew his actions led to her death.

“Intentions don’t determine our lives, our decisions are what do that, and I’m aware that the decisions I made that day absolutely caused this tragedy,” said Thayer, a 39-year-old Paris man who pleaded guilty to homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in the New Year’s Day crash that killed Latshaw and left her 7-year-old grandson seriously injured.

Thayer was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison, the sentence following prosecutors’ call for a tough sentence that would send a message about the seriousness of drunken driving offenses.

“I take no pleasure in handing that sentence down. It’s a tragedy no matter what way you look at it,” said Judge Jodi Meier.