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Student Faces Drunk Driving Charges After Fatal Accident

VERMONT (WJZ) -- A college student from Maryland is facing criminal charges in a drunken driving accident that killed one of his classmates. Derek Seber, 22, faced a judge Tuesday in Vermont.

Mary Bubala has more.

Seber wept as he entered a courtroom. The Norwich University student from Gaithersburg is charged with driving drunk and killing one of his classmates.

"I just wanted to say how sorry my client feels for the terrible tragedy that occurred here," said his lawyer.

Tragedy that stemmed from a party. Beer cans still linger outside the home. Police say on Saturday night, it was packed with at least 100 students, many underage. Logan O'Neill, 20, allegedly hosted the party and he told police he knew some were underage. He told police he tried to end the party when it began getting out of hand.

Police say Seber left the party early Sunday morning. He and seven other classmates piled into his Acura sedan.

"There were at least three individuals sitting on the laps of others," said a police official.

That included Renee Robbins of Michigan, 18. The Norwich freshman died at the scene. Her father, a Massachusetts state trooper, grieved in the courtroom. Police say no one was wearing a seatbelt and Seber had an elevated blood alcohol level.

An eyewitness says he was going 50 to 60 miles an hour and passed cars on a winding road. The car slammed into a tree less than a mile from the party.

"The defendant fled the scene when the emergency vehicles were on the way," said prosecutor Tom Kelly.

The state's attorney says he was uncooperative at the hospital and tried to flee through an emergency exit.

His lawyer says he's never been in trouble before.

Seber's parents traveled from Maryland to Vermont to be in the courtroom Tuesday. They posted bail and their son was released into their custody.

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