Sean Higgins is accused of the death of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother

Prosecutors have asked for 30 days to file formal charges against Higgins

The Gaudreau family was in the courtroom for the short hearing

The driver accused of killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they rode their bikes on a rural New Jersey road appeared briefly in court Tuesday, where a judge widened the window for prosecutors to seek accusation.

The brief hearing, in which the judge gave prosecutors an additional 30 days to seek formal charges in the deaths of Gaudreau on August 29, marked the first time the Gaudreau family and 44-year-old defendant Sean M. Higgins faced off in court. Previously, Higgins appeared at video hearings from behind bars.

Authorities say Higgins, who is from Woodstown, was impaired after drinking five or six beers the day he drove into the brothers’ bikes and has a history of road rage and aggressive driving.

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Driver: Higgins was driving aggressively

Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on the eve of their sister’s wedding. The family, including their father, Gus Gaudreau, declined to comment on the case Tuesday in Salem County Court.

Higgins told police that on the day of his arrest, he drove for two hours while talking to a friend on the phone after having an upsetting conversation with his mother.

A driver in front of Higgins told police that Higgins was driving aggressively. When she and the vehicle in front of her slowed and moved to the left to avoid the bicyclists, Higgins accelerated and turned right, hitting the Gaudreaus, she said.

Higgins had a blood-alcohol level of 0.087, which is above the state’s legal limit of 0.08, and failed a field sobriety test, police said. He faces preliminary charges of two counts of vehicular death, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consumption of alcohol in a vehicle.

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A good person who made a bad decision

Higgins faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of one of the vehicular deaths. The judge said that made him a flight risk and ordered him locked up until trial.

Defense attorney Matthew Portella called Higgins “a loving father of two daughters” and a good person who “made a horrible decision that night.” Portella declined to comment after Tuesday’s hearing.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the NHL and was about to begin his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames.

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