Ohio teen gets 4 years in stop-sign prank deaths
Apr 11, 2012, 9:48 PM
CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio teenager was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for a fatal traffic crash that occurred after he concealed a stop sign with petroleum jelly and plastic wrap.
Seth Stonerock, 19, of Stoutsville, was sentenced in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court after tearfully apologizing to the families of the two women who died. He had pleaded guilty in February to two reckless homicide counts.
Mary Spangler, 85, died in the Aug. 17 crash when her 81-year-old sister, Jeanne Shea, drove past the concealed sign and collided with another vehicle. Shea died Sept. 6.
Stonerock has been contrite and remorseful and feels the penalty is justified, defense attorney Bill Meeks said Wednesday. Meeks said he planned to ask the judge to consider early release in several months.
Judge P. Randall Knece described Stonerock’s actions as “childish and juvenile,” but said he would consider the possibility of an early release, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Stonerock, who had no criminal record, cried heavily as he told the victims’ families he was sorry. The families did not speak in court, but a victim’s advocate read statements on behalf of some family members.
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