LIBERTY — A St. Joseph teenager has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in a drug-fueled, wrong-way crash that killed two people.
Erika Renee Simpson was 15 in July 2007 when her Ford Explorer crossed a median on Missouri 152 in Clay County and crashed head-on into another car. The other driver, 26-year-old Scott Kehr, and Simpson's 16-year-old passenger Ashley Witkowski, died.
Simpson pleaded guilty in July to first-degree involuntary manslaughter in Kehr's death in a plea deal that dropped a manslaughter count for Witkowski's death.
Judge Anthony Gabbert on Friday agreed to put Simpson in juvenile custody for the first five years of her sentence. After that time she could appeal to serve the rest of her sentence on probation.
Authorities said Simpson had cocaine, marijuana and a tranquilizer in her system.