BARDSTOWN, Ky. - A judge in Bardstown has sentenced a minister to five years in prison in the death of a 13-year-old boy.
Derick Coulter's attorney said in court Thursday that his client made a bad decision in letting Jamie Mitchell drive his sport utility vehicle on a camping trip last June. Coulter entered a guilty plea in January to reckless homicide and wanton endangerment. He had been charged with manslaughter.
The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported Coulter, the youth minister at Big Springs Assembly of God Church, took youths on a weekend camping trip and had let Jamie drive to retrieve the tents when the vehicle overturned.
Prosecutor Arch C. "Chip" McKay III and the victim's family opposed probation. McKay noted Coulter intially claimed he was driving and swerved to avoid a deer - an assertion he repeated when he preached the boy's funeral.
Another boy who was with them came forward with the truth.
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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com