A local family was decimated on Christmas Eve. The driver responsible is fighting felony charges

SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO — After more than nine months, the truck driver accused of killing four Livingston County residents in a crash on Christmas Eve has been sentenced to 180 days in jail in Sidney Municipal Court for one count of misdemeanor vehicular homicide.

More: Four local residents were killed on Christmas Eve. Here's why the case is tied up

More: Truck driver who killed four on Christmas Eve pleads no contest

He's also been given a five-year suspension of his class four driver's license and been fined $250 — but a separate felony case in Common Pleas Court is expected to carry on.

Dayren Rocubert's tractor-trailer was northbound on I-75 on Dec. 24, 2022, when it crashed through the median and struck a GMC Terrain and a Ford F-150, according to police.

Heading south in the vehicles were Kimberly Ann Siegrist, 63; her daughters, Lauren Marie Hahn, 32, and Karen Boehne, 33; and Boehne's husband, Jeremy David Ralph, 32. Boehne was pregnant at the time. All four family members, and the unborn child, were killed. Rocubert was not severely injured.

"Certainly it hasn't been easy because of the time involved," Hahn and Boehne's father, David Hahn, told The Daily. "The tragedy of the whole thing is, number one, the worst thing that could ever happen to a parent."

"We were all looking forward to Christmas and it never happened. Christmas back here in Michigan never happened either, and five wonderful people turned into angels by someone else's mishap."

But officials say it wasn't exactly a mishap.

Rocubert was initially charged with four counts of misdemeanor vehicular homicide and one count of failing to maintain control of a vehicle by Sidney Law Director David Busick. In January, he pled no contest to a single misdemeanor charge of vehicular homicide in Sidney Municipal Court.

That all happened while tox results were pending.

After the plea, Shelby County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Sell said he received a toxicology report indicating Rocubert was under the influence of methamphetamine, cocaine and amphetamines at the time of the crash.

Busick, who chose to charge Rocubert with misdemeanors prior to receiving the toxicology report, did not respond The Daily's request for comment.

Sell sent the case to a grand jury, who voted to indict Rocubert on five felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide in Shelby County Common Pleas Court. In March, Busick requested the court vacate the previously scheduled sentencing.

Four separate motions were made to push the sentencing back. Rocubert made a double jeopardy argument, claiming the felony charges should be dismissed because misdemeanor charges were underway. That was initially shot down.

"This court finds the prosecution … of the defendant for aggravated vehicular assault is not barred by the negotiated plea to one count of vehicular assault in the Sidney Municipal Court. Defendant's motion to dismiss is denied," Judge James F. Stevenson wrote in court documents on July 14.

"It is regrettable that that the Sidney Prosecutor rushed to the taking of a plea on the municipal court charges knowing that lab results were still pending," he added. "All of this could have been avoided by merely waiting for the lab results and then making informed decisions after obtaining those results."

Since the beginning, Hahn said, the family feels they've been misled.

"Our family was completely misled ... by (Busick) before drug charges were allowed to surface in felony court. Busick personally promised whatever happened during the initial traffic court proceeding would not hamper any pending drugs charges, which were due within 24 hours according to Ohio State Police," Hahn said.

"Busick ensured us with confidence ... that any felony charges would supersede any municipal infraction."

Hahn said the ensuing legal challenges have left a grieving family waiting for justice.

"Seems to us this municipal court has 100 percent served up injustice coupled with incompetence ... we feel extraordinarily violated."

"For whatever reason, some people don't want to make light of it, but to me it seems like somebody has made some mistakes in getting here," he said. "The (Shelby County Common) Pleas Court that's processing the felony is doing a fantastic job dealing with all the hurdles to get through to the finish line."

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Rocubert has appealed the refusal to dismiss the felony charges against him. On Aug. 9, the State of Ohio requested the case be placed on an accelerated calendar. But even that decision is tied up in litigation, after the appeal was denied when Rocubert failed to file a brief in support of his motion by deadline.

He's now submitted a motion opposing the motion to dismiss his appeal.

"We are not done here, but face risks and an uphill battle," Hahn said. "Please pray that justice will prevail in the felony court and for the higher level prosecutors to continue to hear our case in the appropriate manner in memory of our angels and protect those who could be impacted in the future by people like Rocubert on our roads."

Hahn would like to thank Prosecutor Sell and Victim Advocate Cindy Smith.

"There's a lot of good people out there trying to make a difference for people like us," he said. "I can't thank them enough for being who they are."

— Contact reporter Patricia Alvord at palvord@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Truck driver in fatal December crash faces first sentence