Capital Region News

Man pleads guilty in NY teen's death last summer

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published December 6, 2012 at 4:54 PM EST

22-year-old Saratoga County man has admitted to being drunk behind the wheel when his sport utility vehicle struck and killed a teenage girl standing alongside a road last summer. WAMC’S Dave Lucas has more.

The Saratogian reports that Gavin Staulters of Milton pleaded guilty Wednesday in Saratoga County Court to a vehicular manslaughter charge stemming from the death of 14-year-old Kari Liedel on July 7. The teen was hit by his vehicle as she and a friend waited for another friend along a road near her home in Milton.

Staulters is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 30 to two to seven years in state prison.

Capital Region News

Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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