A Fairfield Township driver is headed to prison for nearly a decade after a high-speed River Road crash in Hamilton left three people dead, including a 10-year-old boy. Brandon Begley, 41, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and received a nine-year sentence Monday in Butler County court, where a judge ordered him straight to state prison.
Court records show Begley was sentenced to nine years for the wreck that happened just before 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2025, killing 35-year-old Milton Alvarez Lagos, 27-year-old Bety Salazar Lopez and 10-year-old Milton Salazar Alvarez, according to FOX19. The outlet reports Begley had been driving south on River Road when the deadly collision followed what investigators describe as a road-rage incident.
How investigators say it unfolded
Hamilton police say crash reconstruction showed Begley crossed left of center to pass three vehicles, then clipped a curb as he tried to move back into his lane. Investigators say he over-corrected, lost control and slammed head-on into two oncoming vehicles. When officers examined the SUV, they found the speedometer frozen at about 80 miles per hour, according to WCPO.
Victims and the scene
The force of the impact pushed the struck sedan into a detached garage on Hooven Avenue and into a fence on Clinton Avenue, and all three victims were inside that car, according to crash reports and local coverage. Begley was taken to a hospital with serious injuries before he was later booked into the Butler County Jail, as reported by WLWT.
Sentence and legal context
Begley had entered his guilty plea earlier this year and received the nine-year prison term at Monday's hearing. Local reporting notes that he originally faced multiple felony counts in connection with the three deaths. Under Ohio law, aggravated vehicular homicide is treated as a serious felony, and sentencing depends on factors spelled out in Ohio Revised Code section 2903.06 and in the court documents cited by FOX19.
What's next
Police say the case is still being reviewed as crash reconstruction teams and detectives go through physical evidence and any available video footage. Hoodline previously covered the early stages of the case, including the charges that first put Begley in front of a grand jury; see our earlier indictment coverage for more background.
