Wichita man sentenced for 2018 DUI wreck that split car in half, killed friend
A drunken driver who ran a stop sign in rural Sedgwick County a few days before Christmas in 2018, contributing to a wreck that killed his passenger and friend, will serve six months in jail for driving under the influence and then spend two years on probation for vehicular homicide, according to prosecutors and court records.
Hunter Black, 24, of Wichita, immediately went to jail to serve the six-month term after he was sentenced Friday by Sedgwick County District Court Judge Bruce Brown, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. He will serve the probation portion of the sentence after he is released from jail, Dillon said. If he fails to follow the rules while on probation, he could be incarcerated for another year.
Black is one of two drivers charged in connection with the death of 24-year-old Logan Kirk Owens, who was killed when Black’s Honda Accord and a Ford Fusion collided at the intersection of 79th Street South and 143rd Street East around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2018.
Prosecutors say Black had a blood-alcohol level of .123 — more than the legal limit of .08 to drive in Kansas — when he blew past the stop sign as he and Owens were on their way home.
The other driver, Garrett Neff, was speeding along 79th Street at 105 mph in a 55-mph zone because he was late for work. He was traveling at more than 85 mph when he hit Black’s car, according to court records.
The force of the impact was so great that it split the Accord in half, ejecting Owens from his seat. He died at the crash site.
Both drivers faced criminal charges.
Neff pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide on Feb. 12, 2020. He was immediately sentenced to a year of probation and had his driving privileges restricted for 90 days, court records show. He successfully completed his probation earlier this summer.
Black pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and vehicular homicide on July 9.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 11:34 AM.
