A man who ran a red light and crashed into a police cruiser in Kansas City has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter in the deaths of a police officer and a bystander.
“I’m so sorry and I never meant to hurt anyone,” Jeron Lightfoot, 20, of Tonganoxie, Kansas, said before Wednesday’s sentencing.
The Feb. 15, 2023, crash killed Officer James Muehlbauer, 42, Jesse Ecks, 52, and Muehlbauer’s police dog, Champ.
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Police determined that Lightfoot sped to nearly 90 mph just two seconds before crashing into the driver’s side of Muehlbauer’s car. The impact caused the car to collide with Mr. X, who was sitting on a concrete fence.
Jeron Lightfoot, 20, of Tonganoxie, Kansas, was killed in a car crash in Kansas City by police officer James Muehlbauer, his dog K-9 Champ, and pedestrian Jesse Ecks. After killing him, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter. (Kansas City Police Department, via AP)
Lightfoot initially blamed the brakes, but in February she entered a guilty plea and prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Ecks’ sister Mandy Dunbar opposed Lightfoot’s prison sentence, arguing that her brother had been in and out of prison his entire life. She said his life could have been better if he had been given the chance when he was younger.
But family and friends of Muehlbauer, a well-known military officer and father of three, called for capital punishment.
The hearing ended with Lightfoot being handcuffed and led out of the courtroom, which was filled with friends and family, along with uniformed police officers.
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“Right now, I don’t think I can forgive him, but maybe in time,” Muehlbauer’s widow, Kathy Muehlbauer, said outside the courthouse.
