Man gets 30 years for deadly crash in Jefferson City

A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a deadly DWI crash in Jefferson City.

Dennis Leporin confessed to five charges in June for the March 2013 accident near Highway 54 and 179. They include one count of second-degree murder and second-degree assault, felony DWI and two misdemeanors.

Prosecutors say the DWI charge is also Leporin’s third, which makes it a felony offense in Missouri.

Court documents claim Leporin was driving the wrong way on Highway 54 and crashed head-on into another car, killing Chelsea Fredrickson, 19, of Camdenton. Her passenger, Jasper Richmond, suffered serious injuries.

According to the probable cause statement, Leporin said, “I was in a horrible wreck that I caused.” The statement also claimed he told law enforcement he was in Arkansas and the year was 2012.

Officials say Leporin had a revoked driver’s license at the time of the accident.

On Wednesday in court, Fredrickson’s family members took the stand asking for justice in this case.

“Chelsea filled a hole in my heart that I have had all of my life. But after that knock on the door and the unbearable painful news that my baby girl was ripped away from me, I was left with a gaping hole ripped out of my soul,” said Fredrickson’s mother.

Fredrickson’s younger 10-year-old brother took the stand saying his family is never going to be the same without his older sister.

After Fredrickson’s mother, father, brothers and sisters spoke out, Leporin apologized.

“Every single day when I wake up I look at myself in the mirror and it is a person that I absolutely despise. There is nothing I could say or do that would make up for what I have done,” said Leporin.