Ethan Couch is set to be released from the Tarrant County Jail on April 2, days before his 21st birthday. Couch was 16 when, in 2013, he killed four people while driving drunk near Fort Worth. Charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter, Couch’s case made national headlines when his attorney argued the teen suffered from “affluenza,” the product of a spoiled upbringing and his family’s wealth.
Judge Jean Boyd then handed down a lenient sentence of 10 years probation and a stint in rehab, but Couch wound up in jail after violating the terms of his probation (he was filmed playing beer pong in 2015) and fleeing to Mexico with his mother. Couch and his mother were eventually apprehended, and he was ordered to serve 720 days in jail in 2016. His mother, Tonya Couch, was charged with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive, and her case is pending.
Now’s a good time to re-up Michael Mooney’s May 2015 cover story on Couch and his family, “The Worst Parents Ever.”
