Driver who backed over tent, killing baby, gets five years

Last update: November 12, 2009 - 10:06 PM

A Willmar, Minn., woman who pleaded guilty to backing over a tent in a campground and killing a 4-month-old boy was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison.

Nicolle Marie Mercedes Prechel, 31, had pleaded guilty in Renville County District Court to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation, according to court records.

She was charged with seven counts in the July 5 incident at Beaver Falls Campground near Morton, Minn. Killed was Wyatt Sander, who was in the tent with his mother, Sheena Hinshaw. The boy's father, Jacob Sander, watched as the tent was dragged 14 feet.

According to the criminal complaint, Prechel, her 7-year-old daughter and Hinshaw and Wyatt were part of a group at the campground. On July 4, Prechel smoked marijuana and drank "the majority" of a 1-liter bottle of Southern Comfort, the complaint said. She and her daughter went to sleep in a van, which was next to the tent.

About 8:30 a.m. the next morning, Prechel drove her daughter to a bathroom. When they returned, Prechel tried to back in and drove over the tent and didn't stop until the van hit a pole, the complaint said.

Sander drove Hinshaw and Wyatt to Redwood Area Hospital in Redwood Falls, where the boy was pronounced dead.

Prechel also drove to the hospital, where a deputy asked about events at the campground. She told him what happened, concluding with, "Oh, my God, I killed my cousin," according to the complaint.

VINCE TUSS