KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A western Missouri man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after admitting in court that he drunkenly caused an Interstate 70 wreck that killed two children and left their father paralyzed.

James L. Green, 61, was sentenced Thursday in Jackson County after pleading guilty to two counts each of second-degree murder and assault. The Odessa man also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated.

Prosecutors say Green was intoxicated and driving with a suspended driver’s license on Sept. 5, 2016, when his sport utility vehicle hit a Warrenton family’s vehicle from behind on I-70 in Blue Springs. Three other vehicles later were involved in the wreck.

The crash killed 7-year-old Chloe Beaird and 13-year-old Gavin Beaird. Their father, David, was left paralyzed from the chest down, and their mother, Jennifer, was seriously injured.

Chloe and Gavin were students in the Warren County School District. Hearts were broken in the schools and the community when residents learned of the children’s deaths.

Soon after the crash, community members banded together to raise tens of thousands of dollars to go toward the Beairds’ expenses and hospital bills.