A Lenexa man has been sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for causing a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 435 in Overland Park in 2022.
Last week, Judge Thomas Kelly sentenced Matthew J. Ryan, 32, to 117 months in prison for reckless second-degree murder.
The sentence comes after a three-day jury trial in May in which Ryan was found guilty. At his sentencing on July 17 in Johnson County District Court, a motion by Ryan’s attorney for a new trial was denied.
Prosecutors say Ryan was driving drunk
On December 10, 2022, Ryan was traveling west on eastbound I-435 when he struck another vehicle, killing Karl Wurtenberger of Independence, Missouri.
Ryan then continued driving west before striking another vehicle and coming to a stop. The driver of the second vehicle struck by Ryan was not injured.
Ryan was driving while impaired, according to court documents.
“Without a doubt, Mr. Ryan was intoxicated. He had a BAC of .25 from the KBI analysis,” Kendall Kaut, an assistant Johnson County district attorney for Johnson County, said in court records. “(An officer) — who rode to the hospital with Mr. Ryan — said he reeked of alcohol. Beyond that, Mr. Ryan drove the wrong way for miles on the highway. All the while, he passed tons of signs and had folks flashing their lights at him.”
“Love your people and tell them often”
Wurtenberger’s family did not return requests for comment from the Johnson County Post on the sentencing, but they released a statement to Fox 4 News when Ryan was originally charged days after the crash.
“Karl was taken from us. We are grief-stricken and heartbroken,” the family’s statement said. “[H]e was taken from us by a senseless act that could have been avoided. Love your people and tell them often, you never know when it will be your last.”
Other Johnson County court news: Missouri man sentenced to 25 years for deadly drunk-driving crash in Merriam
