BREAKING NEWS: Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s Family Watches as Driver Pleads Not Guilty to Their Deaths.giang

The family of the late NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew looked on Tuesday as the man charged with killing the brothers in an alleged drunk driving crash last August pleaded not guilty, according to reports.

Sean M. Higgins, 44, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 7 to charges related to the brothers’ Aug. 29 deaths, according to NJ.com, local NBC 10, and CBS News. Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were killed when Higgins allegedly drove into them while they were riding bikes together the night before their sister Katie’s wedding. Higgins was allegedly attempting to pass another vehicle in front of him and swerved around the car, striking the Gaudreau brothers, according to police.

Higgins had a blood alcohol level of .087 when the crash occurred, the New Jersey State Prosecutor’s Office previously alleged, which is .007 over the state’s legal limit.

According to ESPN, Higgins’ defense attorneys claimed Tuesday that the Aug. 29 crash occurred because of “a combination of uniquely unfortunate circumstances unlikely to ever occur again.” Meanwhile, the outlet reported that state prosecutors at the hearing depicted Higgins, a married father of two, as having a history of road rage and of drinking up to six beers before the crash.

In body cam footage released by police from Higgins’ arrest in December, the accused told police that it had been about an hour after his last drink, and that he had had “five or six Miller Lites” since noon that day.

Higgins was initially charged with two counts of death by auto, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. A grand jury then indicted Higgins on additional charges, including two counts of aggravated manslaughter, second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident and an additional charge for tampering with physical evidence, according to NJ.com.

The outlet reported that state prosecutors offered Higgins a plea deal which included him serving two consecutive 15-year prison sentences if he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charges. The offer also included him pleading guilty to the charge for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which would have added five additional years onto his sentence, bringing the total number of years served to 35.

NJ.com reports that Higgins pleaded not guilty instead and will now return to court Feb. 4. The Gaudreau family was present at Tuesday’s hearing, according to the outlet, and Higgins kept his head lowered throughout the hearing.

The Gaudreau family has been present at a number of memorials for the brothers, including ceremonies at games for Johnny’s former teams the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames. The family has said they are going through a “very difficult period of grief” following the brothers’ deaths, calling it “a tragic and unfathomable loss.”

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Johnny and his wife Meredith Gaudreau shared two children together: daughter Noa, 2, and son Johnny, who turns 1 in February. At his funeral, Meredith announced she is pregnant with the couple’s third child. Matthew’s widow, Madeline Gaudreau, gave birth to their first son Tripp in December.

“I have no words. I just miss you,” Madeline wrote in an Instagram post shortly after her husband and his brother’s deaths in August, promising to “keep going” for their newborn baby. “I don’t know my life without you. I have never experienced a pain like this. I am so blessed you choose me to be your wife.. to love me. you are the best thing about me. I know you are watching down in just as much pain as I am looking up.”