Man pleads guilty to manslaughter, DUI in crash that killed Farmington HS grad

A Farmington man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to manslaughter and DUI charges tied to a fatal crash that killed  Farmington High School graduate Luke Roux last June.

Jacob Coffey, 22, took a plea deal in Hartford’s Judicial District courthouse Wednesday that will include a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of seven years. He pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter, driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Roux, a 2022 graduate of Farmington High School, was 17 years old and on his way home from a game with his summer baseball team when he was killed in a car crash on June 25, 2022. He had planned on joining his two brothers at the University of Connecticut in the fall, his family has told the Courant.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Coffey, who was 21 at the time, was driving home from a concert in Hartford when he sped through a red light at the intersection of the Colt Highway and Birdseye Road in Farmington, striking the vehicle Roux was driving.

Roux was taken to John Dempsey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators determined Coffey’s blood alcohol content was 0.23 — nearly three times the legal limit — at the hospital he was taken to immediately following the crash, the affidavit said. The legal limit not to drive in Connecticut is 0.08.

Authorities also reported that Coffey was driving between 64 mph and 82 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to the affidavit. He didn’t hit the brakes until less than a second before the collision with Roux’s vehicle at a light that was red for about 18 seconds, investigators wrote in the affidavit.

Police reportedly found empty cans of Bud Light and Busch Light beer and two empty 50-milliliter bottles of Fireball whiskey on the front passenger floor of Coffey’s Jeep Cherokee, along with an empty beer can in the driver-side door pocket and another empty Bud Light can and two more Fireball bottles of the same size in the vehicle’s rear cargo area, according to the affidavit.

Coffey was charged in the accident in August 2022. He is free on a $250,000 bond while he awaits sentencing, which has been scheduled for June 28.

Coffey’s attorney, William Gerace, and the family of Roux will have a chance to speak at the hearing before a judge hands down a sentence, said attorney John Houlihan Jr., who represents Roux’s family.

Gerace told the Courant on Wednesday that his client chose to own up to what he has done and enter “straight guilty pleas” rather than nolo contendere pleas — a legal term for no contest.

“He’s remorseful and struggling with what he has done,” Gerace said. “He’s a nice young man with no record.”

Following the teen’s death, his family established the Luke Roux Memorial Fund to help support the activities and sports organizations that shaped the 17-year-old’s character. The memorial fund also aims to spread education and awareness to reduce the number of lives lost to intoxicated drivers.

“Ultimately, nothing can bring our son Luke back,” Steve and Carri Roux said in a statement on Wednesday. “We continue to remain focused on the awareness of preventing intoxicated drivers getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. The Luke Roux Memorial Fund will carry this message forward indefinitely.”

Roux played baseball, ice hockey and tennis, swam and competed in esports. He was also a gifted drummer and played the violin, keyboard and guitar with a love for an eclectic mix of progressive rock.

Roux was also an accomplished scholar who excelled in math and made a profound impact on family, friends, coaches and teachers in the Farmington community.

In addition to the criminal matter, Roux’s parents have filed a lawsuit against Live Nation, the promoter of the country western concert at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford that Coffey attended. The lawsuit — which also names Coffey and Live Nation’s security company — contends Coffey had become incapacitated after drinking excessively at a pre-concert “Beers on Me” tailgating event and was allowed to drive off after he was denied entry to the performance area after becoming “combative” with security personnel.