KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man convicted twice for driving while intoxicated will spend 13 years in prison for killing a man in 2022 in a drunk driving crash in Kansas City, Missouri.
A Jackson County, Missouri, judge sentenced Zackary Zorich, 31, to prison after his guilty plea in a June 8, 2022, crash that killed a man at West 75th Street and Ward Parkway.
The incident happened about 12:40 a.m. when Zorich, speeding west on West 75th Street in a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, ran a red light at Ward Parkway, according to a court document.
Zorich's vehicle collided with the driver's door and side of a 2016 Mercedes Benz CLA250 traveling south on Ward Parkway,
The driver of the Mercedes Benz, Remington R. Williams, died at the crash scene, according to a court document.
A KCMO police department DUI officer came to the crash scene to check Zorich for signs of impairment.
The court document states the officer "detected a strong odor of intoxicants about Zorich." In addition, his eyes were watery and bloodshot and his speech was heavily slurred and mumbled.
A tornado warning, combined with a heavy downpour, led officers to take Zorich to the Metro Patrol Station for more testing, the court document states.
After demanding to talk to an attorney and refusing to submit to a blood test, officers got a search warrant, took Zorich to a hospital and drew four gray top vials of blood.
Zorich's blood alcohol level was later revealed to be 2.5 times the legal limit, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
The court document states Zorich was convicted of DWI in April 2010 in Platte County Circuit Court and in September 2017 in Clay County Circuit Court.
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