The family of a man left in a coma after being struck by a drunk driver is suing the Gaston County, N.C., man responsible for the accident.

Bryan Trent Childers, 41, is serving an 11-year sentence after pleading guilty to felony driving under the influence with great bodily injury in June 2004. He had three prior DUI convictions when he entered the plea.

Childers registered a .15 bloodalcohol content when he was tested after the Aug. 17, 2003, wreck involving 43-year-old Ricky Miller, who was delivering pizza for Papa John's in Gaffney. Childers was also under the influence of marijuana, prosecutors said.

Miller has been in a nursing home in his home state of New York. Prosecutors told the court doctors have said that Miller will never recover from the head injuries suffered in the accident.

During Childers' court appearance, defense attorney Trent Pruett said Childers had left his father's home in Gaffney after an argument and was nearing Overbrook Drive and Hyatt Street when he took his eyes off the road and picked up his cell phone. Pruett said his client said the traffic light was green when he looked down, but was red when he looked at the road again. He maneuvered to miss striking a car stopped in his lane at the light, and was attempting to brake when he struck the car driven by Miller.

The complaint names the estate of Otis Calvin Childers, the owner of the vehicle Childers was driving, as a codefendant.