A man was sentenced to four years in prison Monday for causing a head-on collision that killed a Newark woman last year.
Mark T. Dingess, 39, of Centerburg, pleaded guilty in Licking County Common Pleas Court Monday to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault following emotional statements from members of his family and the victim’s.
Dingess apologized before his sentencing and was taken into custody afterward. Judge Thomas Marcelain also suspended his driver’s license for 10 years.
Dingess was driving a Chevrolet Silverado on Route 13 in Licking Township during the late afternoon of June 15, 2016, when he crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a Dodge Caravan, according to the State Highway Patrol. Connie Harkin, 40, the driver of the minivan, was transported to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she died. Four of her five children, ages 2 to 14, were in the vehicle at the time and also were injured, but survived.
Dingess suffered minor injuries, according to the patrol. He was charged with three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, four counts of aggravated vehicular assault, two counts of vehicular assault, one count of operating under the influence, one count of aggravated possession of drugs and one count of falsification, according to documents.
Dingess agreed to plead guilty to three of the charges, and the rest were dismissed.
Monday’s court hearing included statements from two people on Dingess’ behalf, including his mother, who urged leniency.
Several members of Harkin’s family also spoke. A letter from her mother was read, asking, “Why did that man, Mark Dingess, choose to use drugs and get behind the wheel? I’m asking that Mr. Dingess be given the maximum” prison sentence.
Kevin Reifsnyder, Harkin’s fiancé and father of her children, recounted the crash’s physical and emotional aftermath.
He added that Harkin was “a good mother, a good person, she always had a smile, she was always willing to help. There was no need for what happened that day to happen.”
Mark T. Dingess, 39, of Centerburg, pleaded guilty in Licking County Common Pleas Court Monday to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault following emotional statements from members of his family and the victim’s.
Dingess apologized before his sentencing and was taken into custody afterward. Judge Thomas Marcelain also suspended his driver’s license for 10 years.
Dingess was driving a Chevrolet Silverado on Route 13 in Licking Township during the late afternoon of June 15, 2016, when he crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a Dodge Caravan, according to the State Highway Patrol. Connie Harkin, 40, the driver of the minivan, was transported to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she died. Four of her five children, ages 2 to 14, were in the vehicle at the time and also were injured, but survived.
Dingess suffered minor injuries, according to the patrol. He was charged with three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, four counts of aggravated vehicular assault, two counts of vehicular assault, one count of operating under the influence, one count of aggravated possession of drugs and one count of falsification, according to documents.
Dingess agreed to plead guilty to three of the charges, and the rest were dismissed.
Monday’s court hearing included statements from two people on Dingess’ behalf, including his mother, who urged leniency.
Several members of Harkin’s family also spoke. A letter from her mother was read, asking, “Why did that man, Mark Dingess, choose to use drugs and get behind the wheel? I’m asking that Mr. Dingess be given the maximum” prison sentence.
Kevin Reifsnyder, Harkin’s fiancé and father of her children, recounted the crash’s physical and emotional aftermath.
He added that Harkin was “a good mother, a good person, she always had a smile, she was always willing to help. There was no need for what happened that day to happen.”
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