A Baton Rouge man whose wife died in 2016 when she was thrown to the ground while clinging to a truck he was driving was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday.
Kalvin Hawkins, 42, received the maximum prison term from state District Judge Beau Higginbotham for conspiracy to commit negligent homicide.
A 41-year-old Baton Rouge man pleaded guilty Wednesday in the bizarre death of his wife in 2016.
Hawkins and his wife, Shadelle Hawkins, were arguing outside their Rosenwald Road home on July 30, 2016, when she climbed into the driver's seat of his pickup, police have said. He pulled her out of the truck and began to drive away.
Shadelle Hawkins grabbed onto the driver-side door as her husband tried to pry her hands loose. He abruptly stopped after driving about 300 feet, and his wife was thrown to the ground, police said.
She died Aug. 18, 2016, from traumatic brain injury caused by blunt impact to the head, coroner's officials said.
A Baton Rouge man is facing a count of negligent homicide after his wife died from injuries she received when she was thrown to the ground whi…
"The tragedy could have been avoided by you," Higginbotham told Hawkins, adding that his behavior was "so below the standard of care" of a reasonable person.
"You had no regard for anybody's safety," the judge said.
Hawkins, who was charged with negligent homicide and hit and run driving involving death, pleaded guilty in October to the reduced charge of conspiracy to commit negligent homicide.