A 23-year-old man faces time in a federal penitentiary after having some drinks with friends, climbing behind the wheel and ultimately ending a life on an east Toronto street.

Details of the Nov. 24, 2014 crash were read out in an Eglinton Ave. courtroom Friday during the sentencing hearing for Matthew Habte, who pleaded guilty in March to impaired driving causing the death of 25-year-old Cassius Richards.

Habte had been at the University of Toronto studying for exams when he had some drinks over the dinner hour, got into his vehicle and began driving home, the packed courtroom heard.

"He's speeding. He's drunk. He's attempting to run a red light," defence lawyer Edward Prutschi said. "There's never any intention to cause anyone harm, God forbid to cause anyone death."

Prutschi described how Habte ran to Richards' car and was by his side "immediately" after the crash.

"He's overwhelmed, crying out to Richards to, 'Hold on, you're going to be okay,'" Prutschi said. "He has his hands in Mr. Richards' hands. There's nothing he can do, but he's trying by sheer force of will to undo the damage he has caused."

Prutschi asked Justice Maria Speyer to sentence Habte to four years in prison, plus a five-year driving ban upon his release. Crown attorney Malcolm Savage also asked for four years in prison, but wants a 10-year driving ban upon Habte's release.

Savage, who has prosecuted several impaired driving cases, told the judge he initially did not know what to say in his sentencing submissions.

"This case involved just a normal citizen drinking with his friends, consuming too much, and then knowing that he's consumed a significant amount of alcohol, still feeling that he's okay and getting into a car and driving," Savage said. "That is a decision that is unfortunately made by hundreds of people, thousands of people in this country. It's perhaps frustrating that impaired driving is the most common case prosecuted in these courts because people make that decision."

The number of drunk drivers on the roads, he added, "is staggeringly high."

"There isn't a single person who ever gets into a car drunk wanting to kill somebody. The vast majority of people who get charged with this offence are exactly like Mr. Habte. They are good people who make a bad decision," Savage said. "You don't have to be a bad person to make that decision, but that decision kills people, like it did in this case."

Speyer must consider 15 victim impact statements in rendering her sentencing decision, many of which were read in court Friday.

Through tears and shaky voices, court heard that Richards was the youngest of five children, an uncle who was more like a big brother, someone who believed jerk chicken must always be served with coleslaw, and an aspiring boxer who awoke each day for a 6 a.m. workout and planned on representing Canada on the Olympic stage.

"On November 24, my life changed," Richards' sister, LaToya Garcia, told court in her victim impact statement. "I opened the front door and two police detectives had come to our house to tell us that Cassius had been killed in a car crash. I can't describe the shock, the emotion and everything that ran through me at that moment. For a while, I thought it was a joke and he would walk through the door at any moment and say it was a hoax. The reality began to sink in when the detective showed me a picture of him."

She described the sound that came from her mother's lips "like an echo in my head that I can never erase."

Odette Parsons said her son had been born premature and, as such, "life was a struggle."

He overcame "all" obstacles, however, and went on become a plumber steamfitter, who was on his way home from work when he was killed.

"My baby was taken from me in the blink of an eye," Parsons wrote. "The pain that I feel inside is unbearable and I try every day to figure out, why him?...I wake up every morning, if I manage to sleep at all, and for the first few moments, I cry and pray for my son."

Sasha Richards said her little brother was loved "for everything he was. He would brighten up any moment with his joy and his laughter."

"Deep down in my heart, I truly thought my brother could never be stopped," Richards said. "I felt my heart break. I lost my ability to function. I felt sick. I screamed at the top of my lungs. What happened to my little brother? Did he suffer? Did he feel the pain? Did he see it coming? What were his last thoughts? Did he think of us? Was he scared?"

Richards' brother, Tshaka Garcia, spoke of the void that he wakes up to every day.

"His life was cut short way before his time due to no fault of his own. It hurts to think of how Cassius died — all alone, without his family by his side," he said. "He lived his life doing everything the right way. Stayed away from bad company. He never smoked. Rarely drank. He ate healthy and worked out. So why him?"

And from Richards' eldest sister, Kawana Garcia: "He was not only a brother. He was a friend to me. He will always be with me wherever I go and I miss him every single day."

After the victim impact statements and after submissions from the Crown and defence lawyers, Habte rose from his seat and walked across the room, unfolding a piece of paper.

"I would first like to begin by saying that I take full responsibility for my decision and I fully understand and apologize for my actions. There are no words that I can say that are able to express my level of regret and remorse for this accident," Habte said.

"Crash, it's a crash, not an accident," Richards' sister, LaToya Garcia interjected.

"For this crash," Habte continued. "I would do anything to bring your loved one back, including giving my own life. I can't imagine what you went through and are continuing to go through. I pray that the prayers of my church, my family and I have reached you and will continue to reach you. At this point, I am on God's path."

Habte had been the valedictorian at his high school and was a varsity basketball player who had "a number of athletic scholarships" and who court heard was on path to competing internationally. He has one year left in his International Development degree, his lawyer said.

Following the crash, he became depressed and gained more than 100 pounds "in a very short period of time," Prutschi said.

Prutschi pointed out the "certain irony" in the fact that Habte and Richards were seemingly so alike.

"Mr. Richards appears to have been on track to an incredible boxing career, potentially an Olympic athlete. Mr. Habte was on track to an incredible career, also perhaps as an Olympic athlete," Prutschi said.

But outside court, Habte's sister, LaToya Garcia, said the two could not be compared.

"On that day, one made a decision to drink and one made a decision not to," she said. "I just don't want this for anybody else, I don't want to see this happen to any other family. It's not an easy thing."

It's unknown how much alcohol Habte had consumed because he refused to provide a breath sample.

Habte was initially charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, criminal negligence causing death and refusing a breath sample.

When he pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death March 30, the other charges were dropped.

Habte is scheduled to be sentenced May 30.