A Lincoln man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading no contest to misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the crash that killed Civic Nebraska operations director Kristine “Kris” Hess. Cesar Leos also received 24 months of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine for the Nov. 15, 2025, collision that killed the 61-year-old Omaha woman as she walked to a nonprofit event in northeast Lincoln.
According to 1011 Now, Leos was driving a tow truck owned by Midwest Towing west on St. Paul Avenue when he approached the intersection at North 48th Street. He told police that as he waited to turn, an eastbound vehicle turned north onto North 48th Street, and he then made a left turn — striking Hess as she was crossing the street. The crash report stated that Leos was operating the vehicle in an inattentive manner leading up to the collision, while police also said Hess was distracted by a phone before the crash.
First responders arrived at about 10:44 a.m. and found a passerby already rendering aid to Hess, the station’s report notes. She later died from her injuries. There is a discrepancy in Leos’s reported age: the sentencing coverage lists him as 34, while an earlier report on the citation identified him as 33 at the time of the crash.
Who Was Kris Hess
Hess was Civic Nebraska’s director of operations, a statewide nonprofit based in Lincoln, where she oversaw internal systems and supported the Finance and People & Culture teams, per the same account. She was walking to an event the organization was hosting when the crash occurred, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Civic Nebraska has said Hess was struck just outside the venue where the event was being held…