Staff writer

ttjohnso@observer-reporter.com

A Bridgeville man will spend the next 2 to 4 years in a state penitentiary after pleading guilty Wednesday to causing a traffic accident that resulted in the death of an 18-year-old Muse girl in early January.

Jesse Yunker, 21, broke into tears as he tried to address the girl's father shortly before he was sentenced.

"I wish I could do anything to switch seats with her," Yunker said. Most of the remainder of what he told James Rozanc was inaudible through sobs.

Yunker, of 215 Horseshoe Circle, was the driver of a car that crashed Jan. 7 on Muse-Bishop Road in Cecil.

The car rolled over several times, ejecting Amanda Rozanc, an 18-year-old student at Canon-McMillan High School, into a front yard. Rozanc died a few hours later of head and chest injuries in a Pittsburgh hospital.

None of her friends was present, and her father was the only member of her family to attend the hearing in Washington County Court before Judge Paul Pozonsky.

Rozanc said he will never see his daughter graduate, get married or have children. He told the judge he agreed with the plea and the sentence.

"This had a big impact on my family and my ex-wife," Rozanc told Pozonsky.

Yunker pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault while driving under the influence of alcohol and a first offense of DUI. A charge of homicide by vehicle while DUI was dropped.

At the time of the accident, Yunker was 20 years old and not legally permitted to drink. Police said his blood-alcohol content shortly after the accident was 0.1 percent.

There were five people in the car, including Rozanc and Yunker. A rear-seat passenger, Jocelyn Rura, then 17, of Canonsburg, was ejected along with Rozanc. She suffered severe injuries. Another rear-seat passenger, Casey Sherman, then 16, of Washington, suffered back and neck injuries and a laceration on his finger. He was not ejected.

Yunker was charged with aggravated assault while DUI for their injuries. Neither was in the courtroom Wednesday. Another passenger in the front seat, Steve Gallo, was not injured.

Yunker's attorney, Ken Haber, said there is a pending civil lawsuit and Yunker has expressed remorse since the accident.

"He would have pleaded the next day," Haber said.

As Yunker stood before the judge, his parents sat in the first row of the courtroom with arms locked. After the hearing ended, they hugged their son.

Rozanc, who was alone, sat at the prosecution table and showed little outward emotion.

Pozonsky said both families were living a "parent's worst nightmare."

He then sentenced Yunker to 2 to 4 years in prison on all charges, effective at noon Nov. 9. Pozonsky also ordered restitution of more than $75,000 minus insurance payments and fined Yunker $500 for the DUI charge.

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