Abernathy pleads guilty in fatal box-truck crash

A Jackson man pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and vehicular assault charges in connection with an April 2013 box-truck crash that killed a Glenallen, Missouri, teenager.

Bobby Joe Abernathy, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and second-degree vehicular assault in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

Abernathy was driving a Slumberland Furniture truck west on Highway 34 when the truck crossed the centerline and collided with a sport utility vehicle driven by Erin Cordell, then 18, of Marble Hill, Missouri, killing Cordell's passenger, 17-year-old Amelia Fisher, and injuring Cordell, Abernathy and Abernathy's passenger, Eric Smith of Jackson.

In pleading guilty, Abernathy admitted he was under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana and was swerving in and out of his lane at the time of the crash.

The case had been set for trial May 28.

"No amount of years in prison will ever repair the harm that Mr. Abernathy's actions have inflicted upon the Fisher family," assistant prosecutor Jack Koester said in a statement released Friday afternoon.

Abernathy still faces several civil actions in connection with the accident.

In April 2013, Fisher's father, Christian Fisher, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Abernathy, Slumberland Furniture and Slumberland's parent company, Sleepy Hollow Furniture.

Smith and Cordell later filed personal-injury lawsuits against Abernathy and his employers.

During a preliminary hearing on the criminal charges, Smith testified he feared for his safety after watching Abernathy smoke marijuana from a glass pipe several times the day of the crash, but he hesitated to report the driver's behavior to their supervisors because it was his first day on the job.

Court records show Abernathy has a history of traffic violations, including a 2001 DWI, driving while suspended for points in 2003 and speeding in 1996, 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2012.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Highway 34 and Route U, Burfordville, Mo.