Sentencing for driver convicted of killing Cleveland Firefighter Johnny Tetrick
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The man convicted of hitting and killing Cleveland Firefighter Johnny Tetrick in November 2022, was sentenced Tuesday morning by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick to life in prison.
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Leander Bissell sentencing on Aug. 15, 2023
Leander Bissell’s first chance of parole will be after he serves 16 years.
His bench trial began July 17 and he was found guilty on all counts on July 20.
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Leander Bissell(Source: Cuyahoga County Jail)
Bissell, 41, struck Cleveland Firefighter Tetrick, 51, on Nov. 19, 2022.
The accident happened around 8:15 p.m. on I-90 East near Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Firefighter Tetrick was assisting with a rollover crash, when he was struck. He died from his injures at University Hospitals just before 9 p.m.
Bissell’s defense attorneys tried arguing the fire department did not secure the scene enough, which lead to the fatal accident.
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Cleveland Firefighter Johnny Tetrick(Source: City of Cleveland)
After the accident, Bissell fled the scene, said police.
Bissell was arrested several hours later at a home on Cleveland’s East Side.
Thousands of people attended Firefighter Tetrick’s funeral on Nov. 26, 2022 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.[1]
On March 29, Bissell pleaded guilty to an unrelated drug trafficking charge.
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