Motorist sentenced to 8 years in prison for I-395 crash in Baltimore that killed good Samaritan – Baltimore Sun

A Windsor plant man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of manslaughter stemming from a crash last August that sent a 50-year-old motorist into water under Interstate 395, killing him.

In addition to an eight-year suspended sentence instead of 15 years, Baltimore Circuit Judge Kendra Y. Ausby sentenced Latrell Sanders to five years of supervised probation for the crash in downtown Baltimore who killed 50-year-old Robert “Bobby” Horne Jr.

Sanders, 29, was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter, assault and drunken driving as Maryland Transportation Authority police completed an investigation that determined he drove more than 100 mph in a 55 mph zone the night of the accident. Horne, a Baltimore Convention Center employee, had stopped that evening to help another motorist with a disabled vehicle before Sanders' car collided with another and struck Horne, sending him careening -over the road barrier in the water.

Horne's family members said after the Washington County resident's death that helping other drivers was “in his DNA,” a feeling of generosity that landed him in the hospital more than a decade ago his death. He had been hospitalized with broken bones after being struck while helping another motorist.

MTA Police said last year that Horne stopped his 2007 Ford on the southbound Interstate 395 ramp to Interstate 95, where another vehicle stopped partially on the left shoulder. Firefighting units were already on scene helping the other motorist when two cars collided and hit Horne, and dive teams were sent into the water to search for Horne. Divers found him after a 20-minute search and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Sanders “accepts the judge's decision” and offered “a very sincere apology” to Horne's family during his sentencing hearing, according to his attorney, Mark Sobel.

“It’s a very sad situation all around,” said Sobel, who noted that his client had a “good family” and that his father spoke at the sentencing hearing. Sobel said he was working with Sanders to get his client access to “the help he needs” regarding his struggles with alcohol abuse.