Family testifies about DWI crash that ultimately killed Arlington boy

The state rested Tuesday in the punishment phase of a trial of a repeat drunken driver who killed a child.

Stewart Richardson pleaded guilty for the accident that happened in Arlington six years ago.

In a taped interview played in court Tuesday, he admitted to officers that he’d had about six or seven beers that night.

The 2009 crash left 2-year-old Abdallah Khader in a vegetative state.

Ghazi Khader recalled playing with his little brother in the back seat moments before the impact. Abdallah said, “Get up.” Ghazi moved his head and he believes that saved his life.

Prosecutors said Abdallah ended up blind with no control of his limbs and breathing problems, among other problems.

The boy’s father testified that he went from a being a vibrant toddler who spoke English, Arabic and Spanish to a helpless, bedridden child.

He died last year at the age of 8.

“Abdallah was my everything, my happiness. He was me. He was my heart,” his mother testified, adding that she was sad to learn Richardson had been writing letters to friends in jail but never apologized to the family.

"I'm the only person sitting in this room he should've wrote a letter," Loubna Elharzan said. "An empty piece of paper just with one word saying sorry. I didn't lose a purse or socks. I lost a son."

Richardson has more than 20 prior convictions in several states and nearly half are alcohol-related.

On Monday his relatives testified that they didn't know about his many run-ins with the law.

A judge will decide his sentence. It could be as much as life in prison.