(DAVIESS CO.) – A Cannelburg man who struck and killed volunteer firefighter Kendall Murphy with his vehicle on Nov. 10, 2017, was sentenced to just under six years or 2,160 days in the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Daviess County Superior Court Judge Dean Sobecki said he couldn’t ignore the fact that 27-year-old Colby Blake responded to an accident in a professional capacity while drunk.
On Nov. 10, 2017, Murphy responded to a report of an injury accident about a mile from his home west of Old US 50 and County Road 800 East. As he was exiting his vehicle, Blake, who was also a volunteer firefighter, failed to reduce his speed as he drove up on the scene and struck and killed Murphy.
Both were Montgomery Volunteer Fire Department firefighters.
Emotions ran high during the sentencing. Judge Sobecki heard nearly three hours of statements from Murphy’s and Blake’s families and friends.
Murphy, 27, coached the freshmen boys basketball team at Barr-Reeve from 2013-2017 and was taking over the 5th-grade boys program for the 2017-18 season.
Blake pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated in a negotiated plea deal. A charge of causing death while operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent or above, a level 6 felony, was dropped.
While incarcerated at the Daviess County Security Center, Blake completed phase one of the RARE program and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Since his release in December 2017, he has been serving on Community Corrections home detention. He’s been meeting with his corrections officer twice a month and has been subjected to breath tests twice per day.
Blake was given credit for 31 days served as well as time served for the 579 days he has been in Community Corrections. He was taken into custody by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department after sentencing.
