Duluth Man Pleads Guilty To Vehicular Homicide
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Duluth man pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide Monday after he struck and killed a man while driving under the influence.
David Andrew Smithson, 27, told the court Monday that he fell asleep at the wheel on the 6200 block of Grand Avenue around 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 19, according to the St. Louis County Attorney's Office.
His vehicle left the street and struck 37-year-old Brian Respler, who died at the scene.
Smithson told police he had used heroin the day before the accident, the attorney's office said. He said he had been awake for a couple of days at the time of the accident.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conducted tests that revealed Smithson had morphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in his system at the time of the accident.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 12. A judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation of Smithson's background prior to sentencing.
