COLDWATER, MI (WNWN/WTVB) – A Sturgis man is looking at spending up to the next 25 years in prison after he was sentenced Monday in Branch County Circuit Court in connection with a fatal hit and run crash in Sherwood Township on April 5, 2021.
43-year-old Daniel Gerard Silich entered no contest pleas to charges of Homicide-Manslaughter with a motor vehicle, failure to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault resulting in death and tampering with evidence.
Terms of the plea agreement called for the sentences to be concurrent to the first two counts while the sentencing for the evidence tampering charge would be consecutive to the other two charges.
Judge Bill O’Grady ordered Silich to serve between nine and 15 years on the charges of homicide-manslaughter with a motor vehicle and failure to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault resulting in death.
Silich was given a consecutive sentence of four to ten years for the evidence tampering charge.
Eight other counts were dismissed in exchange for the pleas.
Silich was given credit for 363 days already served in jail.
Silich was charged in connection with the hit and run crash which led to the death of 13-year-old Landen Risner. The youngster was among three children who were struck while they were riding their bikes in the area of Ralston and Arney Roads near their Sherwood Township home.
Silich was arrested on May 5, 2021 following a Michigan State Police investigation.
