The son of a former NFL player was sentenced to 250 hours of community service for a fatal hit-and-run

BATON ROUGE – The son of a former NFL player was sentenced Friday to three years probation and 250 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a hit-and-run crash that killed a man in October 2022.

Walter Andrew Brister IV, 24, pleaded guilty in September to the hit-and-run that resulted in the death of 44-year-old Jude Jarreau. A grand jury decided not to act on the involuntary manslaughter charge Brister previously faced.

Brister’s lawyer, John McLindon, said he would think about it for the rest of his life.

“He has been in the counseling center for two years. He and the Brister family suffered enormously, not as much as the Jarreaus, they suffered much more. I want people to know that the Brister family suffered and he thinks about it every day of his life, and he probably will think about it every day.

Brister must complete 250 hours of court-approved community service and is on probation for a period of three years. At the family’s request, he will also be ordered to speak to the LSU football team and other college students about the impact and impact of drunk driving, District Attorney Hillar Moore said.

Moore said Brister would also be ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

“This was an obviously tragic and emotional case that has impacted not only the lives of those involved, but each of their family members and our community,” Moore added.

Brister, the son of former NFL player Walter “Bubby” Brister, was arrested on October 9, 2022, after hitting Jarreau in his car near the corner of Ben Hur Road and Burbank Drive. Jarreau died at the scene and Brister left before police arrived.

A few days later, Brister turned himself in to the police and was arrested for hit-and-run.