March 29, 2024

Man gets 5 years' probation for crash deaths of 2 passengers

ALLISON — A man has been give five years of probation for the deaths of his 41-year-old brother and another man who were riding in his pickup truck when it crashed in north-central Iowa.

Forty-seven-47-year-old Matthew DeWitt was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison, suspended, and ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution. He'd pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide-reckless driving. Prosecutors had reduced his charges in exchange.

Authorities say DeWitt's blood showed the presence of alcohol and marijuana after the Oct. 27, 2016, crash near Clarksville. DeWitt was towing a trailer when his pickup veered off the roadway and hit a culvert.

His brother, 41-year-old Jeffrey Joe DeWitt, of Shell Rock, and 28-year-old Andrew John Baker, of Waverly, were killed. Matthew DeWitt also was injured.