Teen driver receives suspended sentence for role in fatal ‘hill jumping’ crash

Posted 11/7/19

By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor A Warrenton teen who admitted to “hill jumping” in a 2013 crash that killed one person received a suspended prison sentence. Cameron N. Kopecky, 19, will …

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Teen driver receives suspended sentence for role in fatal ‘hill jumping’ crash

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Record Managing EditorA Warrenton teen who admitted to “hill jumping” in a 2013 crash that killed one person received a suspended prison sentence.Cameron N. Kopecky, 19, will spend 120 days of “shock” time in the Warren County Jail and receive a four-year suspended sentence. At a hearing Sept. 1, Circuit Judge Wes Dalton also placed Kopecky on five years of supervised probation.As one condition of the probation, Kopecky is required to serve 80 hours of community service for each of the next five years.Kopecky was driving and “hill jumping” with a group of friends on Township Line Road when his pickup crashed into another vehicle that had stopped in the roadway due to an earlier accident.The crash occurred July 23, 2013, around 9:25 p.m. about two miles west of Highway 47. Kopecky, of the 31000 block of Checotah Lane, was 17 at the time.In July, Kopecky pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner.He was facing a maximum of four years in prison and a $5,000 fine on the felony charge and up to one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor.Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King was satisfied with the sentence. She noted that Kopecky was not under the influence of either drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash and the victims and their family members approved of the sentencing recommendation.“The whole situation is tragic,” Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King said. “I think it’s an appropriate sentence.”Deborah A. Hughes, 58, of Warrenton, died July 29, 2013, as a result of injuries she sustained in the accident. She was in the vehicle that was struck by Kopecky’s pickup. She was airlifted from the scene.A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper said Kopecky applied his brakes as he came over a hill crest but was unable to stop. He was driving in excess of 75 mph at the time, according to the probable cause statement.The impact caused Hughes’ 2001 Chrysler Town and Country van to strike Jennifer Graves, 32, of Warrenton, who was standing outside the vehicle she was a passenger in. Graves had gotten out of the vehicle to check on the previous accident, police said.The initial accident occurred when a fourth driver avoided a deer and ran off the road into a ditch, the patrol reported.The two vehicles that had stopped for the accident had their emergency flashers on, according to police.Graves was seriously injured and was airlifted to Mercy Hospital St. Louis. Three others had moderate injuries, including two teens riding in Kopecky’s truck.A civil lawsuit filed by Graves against Kopecky and four teens who were passengers in his vehicle is still pending. She is seeking more than $100,000 in damages. Graves also has sued Jacey L. Clemens, the driver she stopped to help.Cameron N. Kopecky


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