BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An Illinois man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for fleeing from an accident that resulted in the death of an active National Guardsman.
Joshua Mullins, 42, of Dekalb, Illinois, pleaded guilty last August to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Level 4 felony. Mullins was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison, with two of those years suspended to probation. Mullins driver’s license is also suspended for eight years.
According to previous reports, Bloomington police responded to the scene of the accident on Jan. 16, 2021, at the intersection of W. 17th Street and N. Kinser Pike. Two vehicles were found in the front yard of a residence, one a maroon 1990 Ford Mustang and the other a black 1996 Toyota 4Runner.
Police said the Toyota was unoccupied while 18-year-old Matthew Roecker of Poland, Indiana, was in the driver’s seat of the Mustang. Roecker was taken to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
Roecker was an active National Guardsman who was staying in Bloomington. Roecker had been deployed to aid in Indiana’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, according to his family.
Mullins was identified as the driver of the abandoned 4Runner and eventually tracked to Wheeler Mission Center on Westplex Avenue where he was taken into custody.
The Indiana National Guard previously released this statement on the death of Matthew Roecker:
We are extremely saddened by the loss of Pfc. Matthew Roecker. He was a mechanic with the 139th Forward Support Company based in Crawfordsville, Indiana, who was on active-duty orders assisting with COVID-19 response efforts at a long-term care facility in Bloomington. Our primary focus is our people, and when our most valuable asset decreases by one, that loss reverberates throughout our organization, the Indiana National Guard. We extend out deepest condolences to his family, friends and his fellow soldiers.
