HARTINGTON, Neb. — A South Dakota man accused of drinking alcohol before the fatal Nebraska crash of an all-terrain vehicle has been sentenced to 180 days in jail and five years of probation.
Cedar County District Court records say 27-year-old Derrik Nelson was sentenced Monday. He’d pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide and false reporting in the crash that left his passenger, Jessi Anderson, dead. Prosecutors dropped manslaughter and other charges in exchange.
The Sioux City Journal reported that the 180 days of his sentence will include spending his birthday, as well as Anderson’s birthday, the date on which she died, in a jail cell for the next five years.
Court records say Nelson was driving the ATV after drinking for several hours before the June 2017 crash near Fordyce that killed Anderson, a South Dakota State University student.
Prosecutors also dropped an accessory charge filed against Nelson’s father, J. Douglas Nelson. Prosecutors say he dismantled the ATV to hide evidence. He’d said he was merely repairing damage he’d noticed.
The two men live in Yankton, South Dakota.
