Teen gets jail time in connection with crash that killed his best friend
By Terry Camp
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BAY CITY, Michigan (WJRT) — The tragedy of drinking and driving played out in a Bay County Courtroom today as a teenager will spend time in jail for his role in a deadly crash.
Dax Burk died last May, just days before he was going to graduate from high school.
Burk and three friends were coming home from a bonfire when the accident happened.
The driver of the vehicle, 19-year-old Daniel Armas of Saginaw, says Dax Burk was like a brother to him, and while Dax’s family and the other victims in the crash weren’t asking for harsh punishment, he will have to spend some time behind bars.
“It’s just a tragic situation,” says Marcus Garske, the attorney for Daniel Armas. “Dan lost a best friend, a family lost a son.”
Dax Burk, 18, was to graduate from Hemlock High School in May of 2023.
He and three of his friends were returning from a bonfire in Ogemaw County on May 20 when the vehicle they were in crashed into a ditch on 7 Mile in Frankenlust Township in Bay County at around 3 a.m.
Daniel Armas was driving and was badly injured.
“He woke up in the hospital,” says Garske. “His first word was what happened, and he had to find out that his best friend was killed.”
Dax Burk died, and Armas and the two other teenagers were all injured and continue to recover.
Armas was originally charged with operating while intoxicated, causing death, and causing serious bodily impairment, but eventually pleaded no contest to moving violation causing death and moving violation causing serious bodily impairment, both misdemeanors.
His blood alcohol was .037 a couple of hours after the crash.
Bay County Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Stroud wasn’t asking for a harsh sentence, but he says there must be some type of punishment.
“Consuming alcohol as an underage drinker and then did what society has been telling the community forever, do not drive,” Stroud said in court.
District Court Judge Tim Kelly sentenced Armas to two years probation, with the first 60 days in jail.
“A horrible accident all away around,” says Garske. “It could have been any of the boys driving that night.”
There has been a civil lawsuit filed by the estate of Dax Burk against Daniel Armas, and there is a hearing scheduled in that matter later this month.
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