Driver Sentenced to Eight Years in Fatal Licking County Tractor Hit-and-Run
Derek Baldwin pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated vehicular homicide and fleeing the scene of an April collision that killed 77-year-old Alan Kissell.
Derek Baldwin, 52, was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday in Licking County Common Pleas Court.
Credit: WBNS 10TV / Licking County Jail Image source
An Iowa man was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed an elderly tractor driver in Licking County last spring.
Licking County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain handed down the sentence to Derek Baldwin, 52, of Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday morning in Newark. Marcelain ordered Baldwin to serve eight years in prison followed by two years of post-release control, along with a permanent driver's license suspension.
The sentencing followed a change of plea in which Baldwin admitted to aggravated vehicular homicide in the third degree and failure to stop after an accident. The plea resolved an indictment returned earlier this year that had also charged Baldwin with second-degree aggravated vehicular homicide and tampering with evidence. Baldwin initially pleaded not guilty in April, when bond was set at $1 million.
According to court records and the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the charges stemmed from an April 15 crash in Hebron. Baldwin had borrowed a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and was traveling northbound on State Route 79 around 6:30 p.m. when the pickup rear-ended an International Harvester 584 tractor just north of North Maple Drive.
The tractor operator, 77-year-old Alan Kissell, was severely injured. Kissell was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.
State troopers said the pickup truck failed to maintain an assured clear distance ahead of traffic and was driving recklessly. Witnesses told Hebron police that Baldwin had been seen at a bar an hour before the crash, and motorcyclists reported seeing the pickup swerving through traffic prior to the impact.
After the collision, Baldwin fled the scene on foot. When a witness asked him to remain, Baldwin allegedly said "my life's over," and left the area, according to court records. Investigators found the Silverado abandoned with heavy front-end damage, an airbag deployed and a head print on the windshield.
Hebron police arrested Baldwin the next morning, April 16, after receiving a tip on his whereabouts.
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Marcelain ordered Baldwin to serve eight years in prison followed by two years of post-release control, along with a permanent driver's license suspension.
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Baldwin was sentenced to eight years in prison with two years of post-release control. In addition, his driver's license has been suspended permanently.
The sentencing followed a change of plea in which Baldwin admitted to aggravated vehicular homicide in the third degree and failure to stop after an accident.
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On Tuesday, Judge Thomas Marcelain accepted a change of plea to guilty on two of the four counts: aggravated vehicular homicide in the third degree and failure to stop after an accident.
The plea resolved an indictment returned earlier this year that had also charged Baldwin with second-degree aggravated vehicular homicide and tampering with evidence.
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Baldwin, who has prior criminal convictions in Iowa and an OVI charge in 1994, was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in the second and third degrees, failure to stop after an accident and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty in April and was issued a bond of $1 million.
Baldwin had borrowed a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and was traveling northbound on State Route 79 around 6:30 p.m. when the pickup rear-ended an International Harvester 584 tractor just north of North Maple Drive.
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The 2016 Chevrolet Silverado rear-ended an International Harvester 584 tractor just north of North Maple Drive, severely injuring the tractor operator, 77-year-old Alan Kissell.
Kissell was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.
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Kissell was hospitalized and later pronounced dead.
State troopers said the pickup truck failed to maintain an assured clear distance ahead of traffic and was driving recklessly.
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The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that the crash resulted from the pickup truck failing to maintain an assured clear distance ahead of traffic and that it was driving recklessly.
When a witness asked him to remain, Baldwin allegedly said "my life's over," and left the area, according to court records.
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After one witness asked Baldwin to stay at the scene, he allegedly said, "my life's over," and left the area.
Hebron police arrested Baldwin the next morning, April 16, after receiving a tip on his whereabouts.
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He remained at large the following morning but was arrested by Hebron PD after a tip was received on his whereabouts.