Garret Kuntz/Barnes County Jail
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (KFGO-NEWSDAKOTA.COM) – A Mandan man has been sentenced for striking and killing a man with his vehicle on I-94 west of Valley City late last year.
Garret Kuntz, 22, changed his plea to guilty at a hearing today. An investigation by the North Dakota Highway Patrol revealed Kuntz was distracted while driving a pickup that struck and killed Jerson Mejia of Honduras on December 21, 2025.
Kuntz was sentenced to 10 years with credit for one day served, he will also serve three years of supervised probation and complete 1,000 hours of community service. Restitution was set at just over $7,800.
The plea agreement says a count of negligent homicide was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.
The judge called it a light sentence, but says distracted driving must stop. He ordered Kuntz to speak about the dangers of distracted driving to high school juniors and seniors as part of his community service order.
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