ALTUS -- A 21-year-old Altus man has been sentenced to eight years in the state Department of Corrections in the March 18 rollover death of 15-year-old Rolando Olivas on East Ridgecrest Road.

Carlos Refugio Herrera, of 215 E. Morgan, was sentenced Aug. 4 after he pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter, according to District Court records.

Herrera was the driver of a Dodge Colt Station wagon that rolled over after jumping the railroad tracks on East Ridgecrest Road at 9:34 p.m. March 18.

Evidence at the scene indicated that the vehicle was westbound traveling at an excessive high rate of speed in a 30 mile-per-hour zone, hitting the railroad tracks and going airborne for 97 feet before impacting with the roadway.

The vehicle rolled at least twice, and Herrera and four passengers were thrown from it.

Officers found unopened cold beers and opened beer cans and wine bottles at the scene.

The passengers in the vehicle were Olivas, who was taken to Jackson County Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead; Anthony Stafford, 6; Anthony's mother Bambi Stafford, 24; and Gerald Diaz, who was treated and released at JCMH.