A 34-year-old Albion man will serve 2 years of probation following his conviction for Misdemeanor Motor Vehicle Homicide following a Phelps County Court jury trial earlier this year. On Tuesday morning, Phelps County Judge Michael Mead also ordered Andy Eickhoff to complete 20 hours of community service, pay $1,000 fine and serve four days of jail time beginning Saturday August 24, 2024.
Eickhoff was also fined $100 on a charge of Careless Driving. He will also serve 4 days beginning April 18, 2025 and 3 days on April 28, 2026, the birth dates of the victim, along with 4 days over Memorial Day weekend in 2025 and 3 days over Memorial Day weekend in 2026.
Among the numerous requirements of his probation, Eickhoff was ordered to complete a defensive driving program and attend a victims of crime empathy class.
The case stems from a March 28, 2023 accident on Highway 183 about 5 miles north of Holdrege. A northbound semi, driven by Eickhoff, struck with the rear of a northbound suburban driven by Peggy Morten. It caused the suburban to go into the opposite lane and collide head-on with a southbound pickup. The driver of the pickup, 50-year-old Lawrence Johnson of Holdrege, later died at a Holdrege hospital.
A Phelps County Court Jury found Eickhoff guilty of Motor Vehicle Homicide and Careless Driving following a three-day trial in April 2024.
Sentencing Hearing
In her statement to the Court during the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Phelps County Attorney Natalie Nelsen-Pacey said that the very nature of a motor vehicle homicide charge means that someone lost their life. She said Lawrence Johnson left behind “a wife, two children and a grandchild.” She said it concerned her that the defendant had not “taken responsibility for his actions.” Nelsen-Pacey continued that “despite being found guilty of the careless driving and the motor vehicle homicide, he told the probation officer in the pre-sentence interview…”I don’t know what else I could have done?” to avoid the accident.
Nelsen-Pacey said she believes “it’s clear he wasn’t keeping a proper lookout and had he kept a proper lookout we probably could have avoided the entire situation” and “for him to say he doesn’t know what else he could have done I think is just maybe him minimizing his own responsibility for this and his own involvement in this.”
Defense Attorney John Sauder laid out some of the “sentencing factors that every court has to consider in imposing a sentence in a criminal matter.”
He said “we simply don’t have an instance where there is intent to cause harm, to cause violence, to do anything to wrong another person. What we have here…is an accident.” Sauder quickly added that they were not trying to minimize the seriousness of what took place, nor ignore the tragedy. Sauder said it has affected Eickhoff’s life and that he is remorseful. Sauder said his client was not “going down the road without a care in the word” noting that Eickhoff had stopped and took a nap on the trip that morning to be sure he was rested before proceeding further. At the time of the accident, Eickhoff was making a return trip to Albion, where he lives, after making a delivery of hay earlier that day in southwest Kansas.
Taking the opportunity to address the Court, Eickhoff said he didn’t set out that morning to get into an accident and he’s “extremely remorseful” for the accident and the two other drivers affected. He said it haunts his memories daily…”I believe I did everything in my power that day to avoid the accident”
