A Centerport man who killed a Valley Stream woman in a hit-and-run drunken driving crash was sentenced Friday in Suffolk County court.

Douglas Davis, 45, was sentenced to 3 ½ to 10 years in prison by a Suffolk County judge despite the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation for the maximum sentence of 8 1/3 to 25 years imprisonment, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota.

Davis was driving northbound on Route 110 in Melville on Jan. 24 when his pickup rear-ended a Nissan 200SX driven by Melissa Scherr, 25. The force of the collision pushed her car into a utility pole and Scherr died of her injuries a short time later at a local hospital.

When Davis fled the scene, a volunteer firefighter followed him to Greenlawn, where Suffolk police apprehended him on Hofstra Drive. Davis pleaded guilty before Judge Gary Weber to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, aggravated driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and speeding.

The victim’s sister told the court on sentencing day that Melissa’s life “was ruthlessly taken away” by the Davis who could have easily prevented the tragedy “by one choice…instead she is gone forever and our lives will never be the same.”