The Burnsville man who was responsible for the July 2023 wreck which killed two young people on U.S. 221 North in Marion will serve two consecutive prison sentences.
On Friday, April 12, Ricky McPeters, 66, of Burnsville, was convicted in McDowell County Superior Court for charges arising out of a three-vehicle car wreck on Thursday, July 6, of last year on U.S. 221 North that killed two. McPeters pled guilty to two counts of felony death by vehicle, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and possession of methamphetamine, and received the maximum possible sentence of two consecutive prison sentences of 73 to 100 months, according to information from the 41st District Attorney’s office.
Trooper Brian McDaniel with the N.C. Highway Patrol and Trooper David Reid with the Highway Patrol’s Accident Reconstruction Unit conducted the investigation in that wreck. The investigation determined that McPeters was driving a GMC Canyon pickup truck south on U.S. 221 at around 10:20 a.m. at a high rate of speed. He came to a section where the highway curved slightly right, but McPeters continued driving straight.
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McPeters drove into the northbound lanes of travel and into the path of an oncoming Buick Encore. The Buick swerved to avoid McPeters, but McPeters hit the Buick’s side in a major impact, spinning it 180 degrees.
None of the four occupants of the Buick were injured in the collision.
McPeters did not stop after hitting the Buick. His truck continued south on U.S. 221 in the northbound lane at approximately 70 miles per hour in a 50-mph zone, according to information from the district attorney’s office.
Caius Arrington, 20, of Bakersville, was driving north on the highway in a Jeep Cherokee. His girlfriend, Delaney Leierzapf, 21, of Cary, was in the front passenger seat. Arrington saw McPeters barreling toward him, swerved, and braked hard in an attempt to avoid the collision, rapidly slowing his vehicle to 30 miles per hour but was unable to avoid the collision and McPeters crashed into him head-on, according to a previous McDowell News story.
The impact was extremely violent and sent both vehicles into the air. Arrington’s Jeep was catapulted backward 64 feet from the impact. Leierzapf was killed instantly and Arrington was transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville and died three days later after being taken off life support. He was well known in Mitchell County for his skills as a basketball and football player, The McDowell News previously reported.
McPeters was also transported to Mission Hospital and he was there until Wednesday, Aug. 16, of last year due to his injuries from the wreck. In the investigation, he admitted to smoking methamphetamine and marijuana that morning before driving and that he was impaired at a level of 6 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 8 being the most impaired he had ever been. The investigation determined that McPeters never took his foot off the gas or touched his brake prior at any point during these collisions, according to information from the district attorney’s office.
McPeters was indicted on two counts of felony death by vehicle and two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Arrington and Leierzapf, and possession of methamphetamine because it was found in his possession at the scene of the wreck.
On Friday, April 12, in McDowell County Superior Court, McPeters appeared before Superior Court Judge Reggie McKnight and pleaded guilty to all charges.
“It was a somber court setting, and the victims’ parents, family members and friends spoke tearfully to the judge about Delaney Leierzapf and Caius Arrington, and the impact their deaths have had on them,” reads a statement from the DA’s office.
In sentencing McPeters, Judge McKnight gave him the maximum sentence possible of 73 to 100 months on each of the two felony death by vehicle charges. McKnight told McPeters that those sentences would be consecutive because it was two separate people whom he had killed.
The possession of meth charge was consolidated into those charges. Judgement was based on the involuntary manslaughter charges because under North Carolina law a person cannot be sentenced on both felony death by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter charges arising out of the same death, according to information from the DA’s office.