A Hazard man has been sentenced for his role in a 2023 crash that left two people dead.
Clay County District Court records say 23-year-old Justin Zoerb was sentenced Tuesday to six years and three months in prison for two counts of Motor Vehicle Homicide and one count of Reckless Driving.
He will also have to serve three years of post-release supervision and pay a $500 fine.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, the crash occurred at around 4:15pm on the afternoon of December 8, 2023 on Highway 6 near the Adams/Clay County line.
An affidavit says Zoerb was driving a westbound semi pulling a grain trailer with animal feed when he came upon stopped traffic.
Zoerb reported to authorities he tried to take evasive action, crossed the centerline, and collided with an eastbound Buick Enclave.
The Buick was occupied by a woman and four children from Davenport, Nebraska.
The driver of the Buick, identified as 30-year-old Nicole Pavelka and one of the children, 8-year-old Ryker Schlichtman, were pronounced deceased at the scene.
The other three children, between the ages of 9 and 11 at the time, were taken to various hospitals with serious injuries.
The investigation determined Zoerb was sending and receiving SnapChat messages at the time and failed to notice four stopped vehicles in his traffic lane waiting for the lead vehicle to make a turn.
Zoerb was initially taken into custody on the day of the accident when he was found to have had an active arrest warrant out of Hitchcock County.
He was officially charged in the deadly crash a year later.
