A Decatur, Tennessee, man charged in a 2016 crash in Meigs County that killed four people has pleaded guilty.
John Wesley Bennett, 37, entered guilty pleas Monday to eight charges related to the deaths of four people who were in vehicles that were struck by a flatbed trailer Bennett was pulling with a dump truck on May 6, 2016, southbound on Highway 58. Authorities said the trailer became disconnected and crossed into oncoming traffic. Bennett fled the scene but was taken into custody a few days later.
Andrew Blackford, 38, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Samantha Norris, 37, of Maynardville, Tennessee, who were in the first car struck by the out-of-control trailer, were killed. Their 2008 Nissan came to rest in the center of the roadway, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. Christopher Denton, 36, and Paula Stevens, 62, both of Dunlap, were in a 1995 Nissan that overturned and came to rest on its top. They also died.
State troopers determined the trailer was improperly attached to the truck and was unsafe to operate, reads a statement from Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson.
On Monday, Bennett pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness and four counts of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, according to Ninth Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson. Family members of some of the victims were present in court for the hearing, Johnson said.
Bennett faces up to a total of 32 years - 24 years on the vehicular homicide charges and eight years on the leaving the scene charges - if Circuit Court Judge Jeff Wicks determines to run each charge consecutively with the other, Johnson said in the statement. The judge may run some or all sentences concurrently, Johnson said.
He will be sentenced on May 1, 2020.
Bennett has been jailed since his arrest three days after the incident and will remain behind bars through the upcoming sentencing hearing, Johnson said. He said Bennett was also convicted and sentenced to an eight-year prison term on drug-related charges out of Meigs County.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.