KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Colorado truck driver pleaded no contest on Friday to charges of vehicular homicide in a fiery crash that killed five people in July 2017, according to prosecutors.
Kenny B. Ford, 59, of Greeley County, Colorado, entered the plea in Leavenworth County Court in connection with the crash that killed Teresa Butler, 61; Karen Kennedy, 63; Ricardo Mireles, 38; Sheldon Cohen, 83; and Virginia Cohen, 79, on July 11, 2017.
Ford was driving a semi tractor-trailer westbound on Interstate 70, approaching a construction zone, when he caused the chain-reaction crash.
Evidence found that Ford was driving at speeds of 65 to 70 mph and failed to slow down when he struck the vehicles.
He was not found to be impaired, nor was he using a cellphone before the crash, Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a news release.
“We have kept in constant contact with the family on this matter,” Thompson said in the release. “Our deepest sympathy goes out to them.”
Ford faces a maximum sentence of one year on each of the five vehicular homicide counts.
