A 43-year-old man convicted of vehicular homicide in the death of a Newton teenager will return to court in August for a hearing to reconsider his sentence.
This marks the second time since his Sept. 22 sentencing that Daniel L. Edwards has requested a motion to reconsider. Edwards is serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty last fall in the incident that killed 14-year-old Brendan O’Brien.
Edwards will appear at the new hearing at the Jasper County Courthouse on Aug. 13.
The first such request in April was denied by District Court Judge Martha Mertz, however Mertz specified Edwards could renew his request after successfully completing a substance abuse treatment program. Edwards’ attorney, Gerald Feuerhelm, said in his most recent request for a new hearing that Edwards was told he will not be offered such a treatment program anytime in the near future, possibly not for several years.
In January, Feuerhelm filed a motion to reconsider sentence due to his client’s “age, education, criminal history and the fact that the defendant has received the rehabilitative effect of being incarcerated.”
Edwards was initially charged in July 2013 following an investigation into the April 21, 2013 incident in which police determined Edwards was speeding and under the influence of synthetic drugs when he struck O’Brien with a Chevy Blazer.
O’Brien was hit at approximately 9 p.m. on a Sunday night as he was walking northbound in the 1100 block of East 19th Street North with a group of friends. Edwards, traveling at approximately 41 mph in a 35 mph zone, hit him with his vehicle as he was out delivering pizzas, according to court documents.
O’Brien was unresponsive when police officers arrived on the scene. He was transferred to Skiff Medical Center and then airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where he died two days later as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
Online court records show Edwards has an extensive history of driving infractions, including dozens of traffic violations and several charges for driving while suspended or revoked.