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Last updated on Thursday, August 13, 2015
(SEYMOUR) - A man who caused a fatal car wreck less than three years ago is out of prison sooner than expected.
Tyler Ross was released from prison on Sunday and the family members of Brooke Hawn say that they have already seen him near the crash site of the East Fork of the White River northeast of the Shieldstown Covered Bridge.
Several times each week, James Hawn comes to the river to find solace looking into the water that took his daughter's life.
Hawn, 16, was killed when then 19-year-old Tyler Ross was driving high and crashed his Mitsubishi two-door car into the river on December 5, 2012. Ross and two other teens were in the vehicle when it flipped into the river. Ross and another 19-year old man escaped through broken windows after the crash.
Hawn, of Seymour, whose body was found in a car after being pulled from White River, died from a combination of trauma, hypothermia and freshwater drowning according to an autopsy report.
According to the findings of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department investigators, excessive speed and reckless driving were key contributing factors in the accident. It was also discovered that Ross didn't have a driver's license at the time of the incident.
Ross accepted a plea agreement on a charge of causing death when operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance. He was sentenced in the spring of 2014. Under Indiana law at the time, prosecutors explain that his six year sentence translated into three. Also one year of the sentence was suspended and he was given credit for serving 469 days.
According to Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Amy Marie, Travis Ross received good time credit in addition to credit for completing programs in prison. He will be on supervised probation for a year and have to submit to drug screens. Ross is also required to take alcohol and drug evaluations to determine if he needs more treatment.
Brooke's family had no clue that Ross would be out in less than three years when Ross agreed to plead guilty. Hawn says if he had realized that he would have fought for him to spend more time in prison.
Family members say that they saw Ross near the crash site on Monday, which is upsetting.
"He will never know the pain we feel," Hawn says. "It'll never go away."
Ross says that he is remorseful for his actions and that if he could have changed places with Brooke that he would have.
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