Man admits killing 3 people in I-275 crash, faces 29 years in prison
A man who killed three people in a highway crash last year, including a AAA tow truck driver who was assisting with a disabled vehicle, faces up to 29 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to multiple charges.
Andrew Blankenship, of Cold Spring, Kentucky, appeared in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court and admitted responsibility for the three deaths in addition to seriously injuring a fourth person. He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated vehicular homicide as well as aggravated vehicular assault.
Blankenship, 30, did not make a statement in court, as family members of the victims looked on. He is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center and wore a black-and-white-striped jail uniform.
Judge Tom Heekin scheduled the sentencing for April 9, almost exactly one year after the crash, which happened the night of April 7, 2023, on Interstate 275 in Anderson Township.
Blankenship was driving his Dodge Dakota pickup without the headlights or taillights on and passing vehicles on the highway’s shoulder, officials have said.
When the crash happened, two vehicles and the AAA tow truck were stopped in the right shoulder.
A Dodge Stratus driven by Janaya Glover had become disabled, prosecutors said, and Richard Glaser parked his 2015 Lexus behind the Stratus to help. Keith Skaggs, the tow truck driver, also parked on the shoulder.
Blankenship drove on the shoulder and slammed into the Lexus. The impact pushed the Lexus into the Stratus which struck Skaggs’ tow truck.
Janaya Glover, 22, and a family member, John Glover, were standing on the highway’s shoulder at the time. Janaya Glover was killed by the impact. John Glover suffered serious injuries. Skaggs, 38, who prosecutors said was kneeling near the Stratus' right front tire, was struck and killed. Glaser, 66, had to be extricated from the Lexus and died from his injuries.
Investigators determined that Blankenship was under the influence of alcohol at the time, according to prosecutors.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Andrew Blankenship pleads guilty in drunken-driving crash that killed 3
