A Toledo man who killed another man in a drunken-driving crash last year at Laskey and Bennett roads pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence.
Steven Dukett, 63, of the 600 block of Custer Drive, was then scheduled for sentencing Oct. 23 in Lucas County Common Pleas Court by Judge Michael Goulding.
David Heath, 56, of the 1600 block of Champlain Street, died in a hospital six days after the Sept. 1, 2023, collision of two pickup trucks. A witness told police Dukett’s vehicle, northbound on Bennett, ran a red light and collided “full force” with Mr. Heath’s, which was westbound on Laskey.
After the collision, the witness said, the northbound vehicle continued “speeding and swerving down Bennett Road” and its driver appeared to be “highly intoxicated.”
Dukett had been charged with alternative second-degree and third-degree counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. His guilty plea to the lesser charge subjects him to a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He also is subject to a driver’s license suspension, and could receive additional time for the misdemeanor OVI charge at the judge’s discretion.