Nov. 14 – A Cincinnati man was sentenced to prison after being accused of causing a crash that killed a 76-year-old woman on Interstate 71 in Warren County.
Samuel Christian Sperry, 27, was sentenced by Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Donald Oda to nine to 12 years in prison on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs . abuse, according to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said that on April 2, 2023, Sperry was driving northbound on I-71 at 125 mph when he crashed into the back of a small SUV.
According to a crash report, the SUV rolled over, went off the right side of the road, rolled over “several more times” and ended up in a ditch.
Shirley Fay Coletta, 76, of Cincinnati was in the SUV with her daughter Patricia Jump, 54, of Anderson Twp. Coletta was pronounced dead at the scene, while Jump suffered serious injuries and was taken to Bethesda North Hospital by emergency responders from Deerfield Twp.
According to the report, Sperry was under the influence of alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids and cocaine at the time of the crash. Prosecutors said blood tests showed he was more than six times over the legal limit for marijuana.
Sperry apparently suffered minor injuries in the crash, the report said.
Fornshell thanked Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers Jacob Kunka and Christopher Krantz, as well as Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Hardman, Victim Witness Coordinator Erika Bourelle and Legal Assistants Brenda Berry and Jaclyn Zaczek for their work on the case.
