Springfield, Mass. Man Sentenced for Fatal 2013 Crash

Joel Nieves Cruz was sentenced Thursday in Hampden Superior Court on charges stemming from the 2013 death of 17-year-old Skyler Anderson-Coughlin along Interstate 91

A Springfield, Massachusetts, man has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison after he was convicted of leaving the scene of a crash he caused.

The Republican newspaper reports
that 34-year-old Joel Nieves Cruz was sentenced Thursday in Hampden Superior Court on charges stemming from the 2013 death of 17-year-old Skyler Anderson-Coughlin along Interstate 91.

Couch cushions fell off Nieves Cruz's truck, causing a chain reaction that led to Anderson-Coughlin's Jeep igniting after he was rear-ended by a tractor trailer.

Prosecutors say the Springfield resident fled the scene instead of trying to help the victim.

Assistant District Attorney James Forsythe says the accident was so gruesome that one of the responding firefighters is still receiving therapy.

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