DEARBORN COUNTY, Ind. -- The driver in a 2017 fatal, drunk driving crash was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in the Indiana state prison system.
Rocky McMurray, 49, pled guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing death, after he had crossed the centerline and struck Steven Ahaus, 48, of Moores Hill, Indiana, nearly head-on. Ahaus was later pronounced dead at the scene by the Dearborn County Coroner's Office.
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Twenty years is the maximum sentence allowed under Indiana state law for this charge.
Judge Sally A. McLaughlin of Dearborn Superior Court II said the maximum sentence was handed down because of McMurray's conduct and past criminal history. Some of McMurray's past charges include five charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, one of which was fatal as well.
“Mr. McMurray represents the worst type of OVWI offender,” Prosecutor Lynn Deddens said. "Anytime you have an individual who has shown enough disregard for the extreme risk they put the community at by driving drunk six times is concerning, but when you know that an individual has already killed one person, and continues to get behind the wheel after he’s been drinking, that’s a level of indifference that is hard to imagine.”
