HILLSDALE, MI (WTVB) – A Jonesville man was sentenced on Monday in Hillsdale County Circuit Court after he struck and killed a teenager who was riding his bicycle in a June 2018 drunk driving crash.
The Hillsdale Daily News reports 21-year-old Seth Magda was ordered to serve between 57 months and 15 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections after he entered a no contest plea last month to a charge of operating while intoxicated causing death.
In exchange for Magda’s plea, prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree murder, reckless driving causing death and voluntary manslaughter.
Magda had a previous criminal record involving traffic and alcohol offenses.
The Michigan State Police say 16-year-old Braxton Petrie of Jonesville was struck while he was riding his bicycle on Mosherville Road near Borden Road.
Petrie later died from his injuries at Hillsdale Hospital.
Petrie’s family and friends along with others in the community have expressed anger at the way the case was handled. His mother Ashley Wolcott told WSYM Fox 47 in Lansing, “we were told there were going to be no plea offers and then they gave him the plea.”
According to the Daily News, Circuit Judge Michael Smith’s courtroom was packed and security at the Hillsdale County Courthouse was heightened for the sentencing hearing. They also report that as Magda was being escorted out of the courtroom, a man who was with the Petrie family cursed at Magda and threatened to kill him.
