Oklahoma City man gets five years in prison for traffic fatality
Oklahoma City man was sentenced for 2008 crash.
An Oklahoma City man was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for a 2008 traffic fatality.
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Oklahoma City man gets five years in prison for traffic fatality Cornell Henderson, 43, pleaded guilty in April to first-degree manslaughter and to driving without insurance. He was charged with manslaughter because he was driving while impaired by alcohol when he rear-ended a truck stopped on Walker Avenue in south Oklahoma City on May 17, 2008.
He was not considered drunk.
The victim, Timothy Van De Weerd, 51, had parked his truck behind a friend's truck, which had lost a rear wheel. He was replacing the wheel when the collision happened. The victim ended up pinned beneath his truck. He died on Dec. 15, 2008, from pneumonia caused by his injuries. Oklahoma County District Judge Kenneth Watson chose the punishment. He also ordered Henderson to pay the victim's funeral expenses. Prosecutors had sought 12 years in prison.
During the sentencing, the victim's widow, Ellen Kazmierczak, told Henderson he had run down her husband and never shown any remorse. Henderson told her, "I'm sorry for what happened."
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