Take Travis Grayson’s own words and turn them around.

The 20-year-old Millvale man told police he “was driving like a stupid idiot” at twice the speed limit in a 25-mph zone when he ran over and killed 6-year-old Ava Campbell on Saturday night in Shaler Township.

Grayson admitted to police he’d been drinking beer all day, 10 cans by his count. He also lit up a pipe of marijuana, he said.

Grayson reportedly used his cell phone at the accident scene to call his mother and tell her, “I just ruined my life.”

Grayson certainly ruined others’ lives. He shattered the dreams and aspirations of Ava’s parents.

But take his words — his admissions of irresponsibility and guilt — and change them from past to the future tense. Back up from the time of the accident and follow the chain of decisions he must have made:

• I think I’ll have a beer, he decided. I’m under the legal age to drink, so I’ll have to get someone else to buy the beer for me, or I’ll use a fake ID.

• I’ll have another, and another — enough beer to give me a wicked buzz. And marijuana will enhance the effect. So I’ll have to get some good (and illegal) pot.

• After I get fully intoxicated, I’ll get in my car — and pile more cans of beer in the passenger seat of my Ford Mustang — then drive really fast through a residential neighborhood.

• Maybe I’ll wreck. Maybe I’ll kill somebody else.

• I’m going to drive like a stupid idiot. I’m going to ruin my life.

The point is that Grayson made a series of decisions knowing from the outset where the decisions would lead him.

Grayson is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence and other counts.

But considering the reckless decisions he made, the crime is something akin to premeditated homicide. This is especially so because, at age 20, he already is a veteran of this criminal behavior. He’s been arrested three times in the past.

Grayson was 18 when he received his first summons for underage drinking in 2013. He pleaded guilty to a lesser offense of disorderly conduct.

He got a second summons later that same year. That charge was dismissed by a district judge.

Three months ago, police again cited Grayson for underage consumption. He was found guilty of a lesser charge, disorderly conduct.

On three occasions, police officers — the spearhead of our criminal justice system — stepped in and stopped Grayson in the midst of his series of irresponsible, alcohol-fueled decisions. And all three times, the justice system let him go to resume the destructive behavior.

State law prohibits judges from considering the past record. They must focus only on the current charges brought before them. Consequently, even if the judge knew about Grayson’s previous offenses, he’d be powerless to take the record into account.

It’s time to change that. The law should be changed, not only to take alcohol- and drug-related criminal records into account, but to establish regional or state databases to track repeat offenders across municipal and even county lines.

For the sake of Ava and her family, it should be a legislative priority.