Drunk driver gets decade for death

Aurora’s Lueders to serve 10-year prison sentence for deadly head-on crash
 
An Aurora man has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment following a hearing on Oct. 17. The punishment comes more than two years after he operated his vehicle in a careless manner while under the influence, causing the death of another.
According to court documents, Jared J. Lueders, at about 10:21 a.m. on July 26, 2023, was traveling along U.S. Highway 60 in Verona when he veered over the center line of the roadway, striking another vehicle head-on. During later tests he was revealed to have had a blood alcohol content over the legal limit of .08 percent. The crash caused the death of 82-year-old Mance Wilkerson, Aurora.
Lueders was driving a 2013 F-150 at the time of the collision and was taken in an ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Springfield because of serious injuries sustained in the deadly incident. Lueders was then informed he was under arrest by an officer in the back of the ambulance. Officers would stay with him once he arrived at the hospital.
Lueders admitted to drinking when he was admitted to the hospital and consented to a blood test. After this, he was read his rights at Mercy Hospital and responded that he understood. The blood tests were taken back to Troop D headquarters, where they remained as evidence.
Back in Lueders’ truck, further investigation revealed a shooter bottle in the back of the vehicle. Lueders was cited for driving while intoxicated, careless and imprudent driving, and driving without a seatbelt. Wilkerson later died from his sustained injuries on July 9, 2023.
Lueders was charged and sentenced with DWI-death of another, which is a class C felony. The hearing took place on Oct. 17, following a guilty plea from Lueders. Before this incident in 2023, Lueders had no prior record of intoxication-related traffic offenses. He will serve out 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.