Man pleads guilty in 2012 crash that killed boy, 7

A driver who caused a crash in April 2012 that ended in the death of a 7-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of negligent vehicular homicide.

Jessie Combs, 24, and his attorney entered the plea Thursday afternoon in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Sentencing is set for Aug. 29.

Combs on April 18, 2012, made a left turn from Riverside Drive onto Ridge Avenue in front of an oncoming pickup truck, which hit Combs’ vehicle on the rear passenger side.

Derek Whitaker, the son of Combs’ girlfriend, was sitting in the back seat improperly restrained. He was killed in the collision.

Combs did not have a valid driver’s license, according to county Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.’s office.

When Combs was indicted by a grand jury in early January, Heck said, “This defendant not only was driving when he shouldn’t have been, but he had this young boy in the car without being properly buckled in or in any type of a booster seat. This little boy lost his life because of the poor judgment of this defendant and his total lack of consideration for this child.”

Combs could be sentenced to a mandatory six to 18 months in prison, fined up to $5,000 and have his driver’s license suspended one to five years.

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