Man gets 2 to 4 years for fatal McKeesport crash that killed his friend
A McKeesport man who was driving under the influence of marijuana in 2019 when he crashed and killed his friend in the passenger seat will spend two to four years in state prison.
Jerry Hardy, 25, entered the plea agreement with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office on Wednesday — three months after they had almost the exact same hearing.
At the initial proceeding before Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley on Feb. 24, the victim’s mother told the court that she loved Hardy like a son and wished he didn’t have to go to prison.
Based on that, Hardy’s defense attorney, Heath Leff, requested a lesser sentence. However, the prosecutor balked, saying they would have to renegotiate the entire agreement.
But on Wednesday, Hardy ended up pleading guilty to the same counts — homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence — and getting the same sentence.
According to police, Hardy and his friend, Austin Fagan, and another friend, Carlos Hudson, who was in the back seat, smoked marijuana at Hudson’s home and then went to Rivers Casino about 3 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2019.
As they drove home about 6:49 a.m., Hardy fell asleep driving on Lysle Boulevard in McKeesport and drifted across the lanes of traffic. His SUV went over a sidewalk and crashed into a building on Fifth Street.
Fagan died, and Hudson sustained three broken vertebrae and a skull fracture.
“There’s not a day that goes by that Mr. Hardy isn’t extremely remorseful for what happened here,” Leff said.
Like last time, the victim’s mother, Danean Fagan, told the court that neither she nor her son, would want Hardy to go to prison.
“I love Jerry like he was my own son,” she said. “I wish nothing but goodness for Jerry. I don’t want him to have to go to jail. My son wouldn’t want anything like this to happen to Jerry either.”
Hardy thanked Danean Fagan, who appeared via video screen, for her words.
“You’re welcome, sweetie, I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” Hardy answered.
At the defendant’s request, Bigley recommended that Hardy be admitted into the state Department of Corrections boot camp program.
“I hope that you can move past this and not let it define you,” she said.
Bigley allowed Hardy to have a report date of July 26 so that he could attend his sister’s graduation.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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