John Gilbert Heeringa

A Howard City man was ordered to spend 20 days in jail and two years on probation as the result of an accident that killed a two-year-old boy.

John Gilbert Heeringa was sentenced Friday, January 10 on the charge of moving violation causing death, a misdemeanor.

The crash occurred in Nelson Township on June 25. Paula Zuniga, 33, was traveling westbound on 17 Mile in a red Ford Explorer with her three children about 10:15 a.m., when the gray Ford F150 that Heeringa was driving northbound on Myers Lake Avenue ran the stop sign and hit Zuniga’s vehicle. Two-year-old Oscar was ejected from his car seat and died at the scene. Three-year-old Alex Salgado was transported to the hospital with serious head injuries, and both one-year-old Gretta Salgado and Paula Zuniga were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Heeringa may have been distracted by his dog, which was in the cab of the truck.

Kristy Lynn Beemer

A driver going too fast on a country road has been charged in an accident that killed two people and seriously injured two others.

Kristy Lynn Beemer, 28, of Sand Lake, is charged with a moving violation causing death, a one-year misdemeanor, for the accident that occurred at Cedar Springs Avenue and Egner, Wednesday evening, October 16.

A 2008 Ford Taurus was eastbound on Egner and stopped at the stop sign at Cedar Springs Avenue about 6:22 p.m. The driver attempted to turn north on Cedar Springs Avenue and collided with Beemer’s 2008 Saturn that was southbound.

The backseat passenger in the Taurus, Kathleen Fernn Bitely, 88, of Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene. The front seat passenger, Herbert Donald Smith, 92, from Twin Lakes, was transported to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.

Beemer was also charged with a moving violation causing serious injury to her front seat passenger, Michael McBride, 30 of Sand Lake, and his five-year-old daughter, who suffered two broken legs.

According to Kent County Undersheriff Jon Hess, a witness had said that Beemer was moving at a high rate of speed, and that a “black box” inside the car confirmed it. “There is something in the car, kind of like a black box in a plane, that will tell you how fast the car was going when the air bags deployed,” explained Hess. “It was considerably higher than 55.”

Beemer is free on $100 bond.