The drunk driver who crashed into a community college softball team’s bus in April, killing a coach and a teenaged player, was sentenced to a long prison stint on Thursday.
Coos County Judge Andrew E. Combs sentenced Jonathan Dowdy, 33, to more than 20 years, Coos County prosecutor John Blanc told The Oregonian/OregonLive, reading the judgement over the phone.
Dowdy pleaded guilty in August to two counts of second-degree manslaughter, three counts of third-degree assault, five counts of fourth-degree assault, driving with a suspended license and DUII.
Dowdy, driving a truck, slammed into the Umpqua Community College softball team’s bus as the players and coaches were driving home to Roseburg on the night of April 18, Oregon State Police said.
Survivors told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the bus rolled at least once after Dowdy hit it head-on, killing softball player Kiley Jones, 19. The team’s coach, 46-year-old Jami Strinz, who was driving the bus at the time of the crash, died from her injuries shortly afterwards.
The eight other people on the bus were hospitalized with moderate- to severe injuries.
Oregon sentencing guidelines would have normally called for 22-month sentences for each of Dowdy’s third-degree assault charges, but Blanc said that Dowdy agreed to a longer sentence of 32 months for each charge due to the severity of the crimes.
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