Prison Time Ordered In Fatal Car Wreck

A Bayview, Idaho, man who killed another man in a car accident will spend at least two years behind bars, a judge ordered Monday.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Randall C. Hurt said at his sentencing hearing Monday. “I’ve got to live with this the rest of my life.”

First District Judge Gary Haman sentenced Hurt, 29, to three years in prison. He will be eligible for parole after two.

Dentle Eugene Walters, 78, died last June when Hurt’s car collided head-on into Walters’ car.

The accident occurred when Hurt abruptly crossed the center line on a straight section of Perimeter Road about 24 miles west of Bayview, according to Idaho State Police.

ISP officers said Hurt admitted drinking beer before the accident. But officials could not determine his blood alcohol level because samples of his blood were ruined when the rubber stoppers on two vials popped off.

On Monday, Hurt’s attorney told the judge that Hurt was not drunk at the time of the accident and was “deeply remorseful” about what happened.

Hurt pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter by gross negligence. He will receive credit for the six months he has already spent in jail.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said Hurt had previously been convicted of a felony drug possession charge.