Ohio truck driver sentenced to 45 years for crash that killed 4 children
RICHMOND, Ind. — "Now, I'm a mother without children."
That's how Elise Acosta concluded her emotional statement to Judge Charles Todd Jr. during Wednesday afternoon's sentencing of a Camden, Ohio, truck driver who caused a fiery Interstate 70 crash that killed Acosta's four children and seriously injured their father, Aaron Bruce. The driver had methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system.
Corey Robert Withrow, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday to nine charges related to the July 9, 2020, crash near the Indiana 1 exit. Five were Level 4 felonies for killing the four children and catastrophically injuring Bruce while intoxicated and four were Level 5 reckless homicide felonies. For sentencing, the Level 5 felony for each child was merged with the corresponding Level 4 felony.
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Todd sentenced Withrow to 45 years — nine years for each of the five Level 4 felonies that Withrow will serve consecutively. Nine years splits the difference between the six-year advisory and 12-year maximum for a Level 4 felony sentence.
Withrow, who received two days credit, faces 33 years and nine months of incarceration even if he earns the maximum good-time credit. He's currently serving a revocation of probation sentence in Ohio that he'll complete Jan. 8, 2023, then Withrow will begin serving his Indiana sentence.
During his opportunity to speak before Todd and about 30 gallery members, including first responders involved at the horrific crash scene, Withrow took a deep breath before apologizing to the children's family members. He said he also has children and can't imagine being without them.
"I never wanted to be in an accident, and I definitely didn't want to take anybody's children from them," he said.
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Withrow, who was clad in an orange jail jumpsuit, handcuffed and shackled, said that if he could do anything to bring the children back or could trade places with them he would.
"I'm just really, really, really sorry," Withrow said. "It's something I'm going to have to deal with the rest of my life, also."
Acosta, who after the sentencing was visiting the site where her children died, said her world was shattered when Withrow's truck slammed into the car. She watched video of the raging fire that burned her children, who mercifully had already died from blunt force trauma. Acosta blamed the crash on Withrow's decisions to use drugs and drive, saying it was not an accident.
"I'm standing here because my babies were murdered by a semi-truck with Mr. Withrow behind the wheel," Acosta said.
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The mother said that when she carried her four children, she thought about what they might become, but now, she'll never find out. She then described to the court and Withrow each of her children, whom she misses every day. The descriptions evoked sobs from some family members.
Anesa Noel Acosta, who was 15, was silly and funny and taught her to be a mother. The only daughter was her mother's best friend.
Quintin Michael McGowan, who was 13, was shy, sweet and quiet, his mother said, loving pizza and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after school.
Brekkin Riley Bruce, who was 8, was also shy and quiet, loving apples and the color blue and playing Minecraft. He was an excellent student who was student of the month at each school he had attended.
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Trentin Beau Bruce, who was 6, was the baby brother who was strong, tough and never cried. He loved Transformers, the color red, ketchup and cheeseburgers.
Bruce, who was pulled from the burning rental car with burns over 56% of his body, also said he misses the children, and his relationship with them.
"Every day I wake up, I am reminded of that day you took my four children," he said.
Bruce was driving the children from their Kansas City, Missouri, home to his sister's Columbus, Ohio, residence to go swimming in the July heat. COVID-19, he said had closed local pools, but his sister had a pool. The last thing he remembers is getting lunch with the children.
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"My life is never going to be normal again," Bruce said.
When Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Green asked him why, he said: "Because my kids are gone."
A medical helicopter flew Bruce from the crash scene to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis. He spent nearly three months in a medically induced coma, undergoing 27 surgeries at Eskenazi alone before being transferred, still in the coma, to the University of Michigan hospital near his father's house. He estimates already enduring at least 75 surgeries, and he continues to undergo more.
His left hand fingers required amputation, and he described eye and ear injuries as well as broken bones, chipped teeth and the other burns.
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"Your honor," Bruce said to Todd, "I beg you to put this man away for as long as possible."
His father, Gary Bruce, agreed, during his testimony.
"I've got to tell you, brother," he said to Withrow. "I'm a really forgiving guy, but it's unforgiveable in my opinion. ... As far as I'm concerned, he should go away and throw away the key."
Gary Bruce was also driving from Michigan to his daughter's home the day of the crash. He spoke with Aaron just after Aaron and the children had passed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. When the family never arrived in Columbus, Gary called hospitals, including Eskenazi, but could not locate Aaron, who was listed as a John Doe. He did, however, learn about a terrible accident on I-70.
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The next day, he was told four of his nine grandchildren were dead.
"I miss 'em every day, so does everybody over there," he said, indicating family members in the Superior 1 courtroom. "Every single day."
Aaron Bruce just in April left his father's home because he has needed constant care. Gary Bruce described his son's injuries and seeing him intubated and bandaged with only his eyes visible.
"We didn't even know if he was going to live," Gary said.
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Withrow, who worked for Barnets, Inc., of Camden, Ohio, was driving a load from Chicago to Ohio. Witnesses said he drove erratically and never braked as he approached slowed vehicles where a construction zone funneled traffic to one lane. The truck's GPS showed he struck Bruce's rental car at 72 miles per hour, slamming it into another truck's trailer then pushing it into the median, where it erupted in flames.
The second truck's data showed the impact from Bruce's car instantly accelerated the truck from 19 mph to 29 mph.
Video presented Wednesday of Withrow at Reid Health and during an interview with Wayne County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Chad Steen showed Withrow struggling to remain awake. Steen said he was concerned about continuing the interview because of Withrow's impairment level.
After presenting evidence, such as the video and Withrow's criminal history, Green asked Todd to sentence Withrow to the maximum 60 years, saying "horrific doesn't begin to describe what Mr. Withrow did that day." She also pointed out that Withrow purposely took illegal drugs and got behind the wheel of his semi.
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Green argued for consecutive sentences rather than concurrent. She said all five victims matter and Withrow is accountable for each of them.
"They deserve to be acknowledged by this court," Green said.
Withrow's attorneys, Joshua Moudy and Jon Paul Rion, asked Todd for a 20-year sentence. They said that Withrow did not intend to crash his truck and injure anyone.
Todd took a 42-minute recess to consider the evidence and arguments before issuing Withrow's sentence. He assigned significant aggravation to Withrow's previous felony and misdemeanor offenses, including other drug and driving while intoxicated convictions, and to Withrow being on probation from two felony convictions when the crash occurred.
The judge also found aggravation for the nature and circumstances of the offenses, because Withrow drove not just any vehicle but a truck when considerably impaired.
"What you did is not an accident," Todd said. "You made a choice to get in a vehicle and drive."
Todd did grant Withrow mitigation for pleading guilty without a plea agreement and minimal mitigation for apologizing Wednesday when he addressed the court and gallery. He disagreed that a maximum sentence is warranted because of the mitigation and Withrow's criminal history not being the "worst of the worst."
Withrow has the opportunity to appeal his sentence, and his attorneys said they would discuss that possibility with him.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Ohio truck driver sentenced to 45 years for crash that killed 4 kids
