After an hour of deliberation, a Phelps County Court Jury returned verdicts of guilty in the Motor Vehicle Homicide trial of 33-year-old Andy Eickhoff. The six member jury of four men and two women were handed the case shortly after 4:00pm Wednesday.
Eickhoff was convicted of misdemeanor Motor Vehicle Homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine. He was also convicted of Careless Driving. Phelps County Judge Michael Mead ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set Eickhoff’s sentencing for June 24, 2024 at 11:00am.
The case stems from a March 28, 2023 accident about 5 miles North of Holdrege on Highway 183. Eickhoff’s northbound semi collided with the rear of a suburban driven by Peggy Morten of rural Holdrege. Morton had stopped on the highway, waiting for southbound traffic to clear, before making a left turn onto a road to go home.
According to Nebraska State Patrol investigator testimony, the suburban then went into the southbound lane where it struck a pickup head-on. The driver of the pickup, 50-year-old Lawrence Johnson of Holdrege died shortly later at a Holdrege hospital. Johnson had just left work at a nearby feedyard.
Eickhoff was making a return trip to Albion, where he lives, after making a delivery of hay earlier that day in southwest Kansas.
