A Florida truck driver will serve prison time for his role in a deadly wreck on Interstate 35 in Garvin County that claimed the lives of two people and severely injured a third in 2023.
Tony Chinedum Aghaji Enweremadu, 40, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was driving a semitrailer northbound on I-35 near Davis in April 2023 when he failed to stop behind traffic that was slowing or stopped due to road construction. His semitrailer plowed into six other vehicles, including four semitrailers and two passenger vehicles.
According to court documents, Enweremadu told investigators he had used his cell phone to answer a Ring notification from a delivery driver just prior to the collision. He also said he had smoked marijuana the morning of the wreck.
On Friday, Enweremadu put himself at the mercy of the court, entering a blind plea of guilty to three felony counts related to the collision, including two counts of first-degree manslaughter, and one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
District Judge Leah Edwards sentenced Enweremadu to 30 years in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, with all but the first 15 years suspended, on each of the manslaughter charges; a 15-year term for the felony charge of causing great bodily injury while driving with marijuana in his system; and one year in the county jail on the misdemeanor charge.
Assistant District Attorney Corey Miner asked for the maximum sentence of life in prison for the manslaughter charges, while Enweremadu’s defense attorney, Keith Nedwick, had suggested a suspended sentence of 10 years on each felony count and a one-year suspended sentence on the misdemeanor charge.
Prior to sentencing, the court heard impact statements from family members of Conrad and Kala Rodgers, the two people killed in the collision, as well as from truck driver Briant Lowrey, who was severely injured in the collision.
Preston Rodgers, Conrad Rodgers’ brother, agreed with Miner’s request for a life sentence for Enweremadu and shared how the collision had forever changed his life, saying now when he sees cars and semitrailers backed up on the interstate it is a reminder of the loss.
“I can not believe how things can happen this way. It takes my breath away,” he said, his voice cracking.
“This is a life sentence for me and my family. I’ve tried to push it to the back of my mind, but it doesn’t work that way,” Rodgers said. “I’ve never asked for anything like this for someone, but this, this just doesn’t go away.”
Lowrey talked about the mental and physical pain he continues to experience due to injuries he sustained, and how the collision has caused significant financial upheaval for his family.
Usha Puligandla, a longtime friend of Kala Rodgers, said she just wanted the court to know what a special person Kala was.
“We’re all walking away with a loss so great, we can’t quantify or qualify it,” Puligandla said.
Nedwick told the court Enweremadu has also been greatly affected by the collision, showing immediate concern for the other drivers involved at the scene and genuine remorse when he learned of the fatalities resulting from the collision.
Nedwick said while Enweremadu made a bad decision to answer a Ring notification while driving, other facts of the case had been mischaracterized by the prosecution.
He argued the collision was caused by a moment of distraction and that Enweremadu was not a “reckless drug fiend racing up the highway,” with no regard for the safety of others as the prosecution had portrayed him.
He said Enweremadu had been up front with investigators from the beginning, telling them right after the collision about the distraction from the Ring notification and about his marijuana use. Nedwick presented the court with photographs taken from dash cam videos showing the lack of congestion on the interstate in the minutes leading up to the collision, as well as Enweremadu’s driving prior to the collision, which he said did not seem to show signs of impairment.
Before sentencing Enweremadu, Edwards said, “I’m often asked about the most difficult cases I hear, and it’s anticipated my response would be violent crimes and crimes to children. While it is true those cases steal a piece of your soul, they are not nearly as difficult as the type of case in front of the court today.”
Edwards went on to say, cases like this are “so difficult because there was no specific intent to take a life. But that does not mitigate or fill the hole left behind when we lose those we love.”
Edwards acknowledged evidence presented through prior court proceedings in the case showed Enweremadu had been remorseful and sincere since the moment of the collision, but said that does not diminish the need for justice for grieving family members.
“Lives were lost and lives were forever changed,” Edwards said.
Under Oklahoma law, Enweremadu will be required to serve 85% of his sentence on the first-degree manslaughter charges before he is eligible for parole.