CLEVELAND — Leander Bissell -- the driver found guilty in the deadly hit-and-run incident that killed Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick last year -- has been sentenced to life behind bars. He will be eligible for parole after 16 years.
The decision was announced Tuesday morning by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick.
It comes just a few weeks after the bench trial concluded in which Judge McCormick found Bissell guilty on all counts, which included murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter, failure to comply, aggravated vehicular homicide and failure to stop.
Bissell was also given a lifetime license suspension.
Moments before learning his punishment, Bissell apologized multiple times while giving a seven-minute statement.
"I especially want to say sorry to his daughters," Bissell said. "A child-parent relationship is the most important and beautiful feeling in the world. A family hero, a community hero, is gone."
Tetrick's daughters also addressed the court before the sentencing was handed down.
“I think my dad would tell me that something good will come from this tragedy, that justice will prevail and that he forgives as he was forgiven," Falon Tetrick said during her statement.
Another of his daughters, Eden, told the judge that Bissell deserved "severe consequences" for his actions.
"A life was taken and many others were drastically altered," she said. "I believe the consequences for this should be the loss to live the rest of his life as a free citizen. The recklessness of his actions and utter disregard for the safety of my father and all other workers that night is absolutely gut-wrenching to think about and I hope justice will be served accordingly."
She also addressed Bissell directly.
"Despite this, Mr. Bissell, I wish to tell you that I do not hate you. I think that would be a lot easier. I hate what you’ve done and all of the agony and grief it has caused me and the people that I love. I hate that I will have all of those images burned into my brain from both that night and this trial and that I will never get to make new memories with him. But what I hate the most is that I know there are so many people that my father could’ve touched in their lives that he will not get the opportunity to. So instead I pray that this touches your life. Again, I do not hate you. In fact, I forgive you for what you’ve done. I just hope that whatever your life looks like now it will be used for the good of others and yourself. I pray that God changes you in the way that only he is capable of. I know that the loss of my father has already helped so many people receive the gospel, but I hope that this helps you, too. I hope that I see you one day in Heaven as a brother in Christ.”
You can watch the full sentencing hearing, which we streamed live in the video below...
When he was first assigned the case, Judge McCormick said, “my initial reaction was that perhaps it was over indicted.” But after a day and a half of testimony, he said he was convinced “this original impression was wrong.”
Judge McCormick concluded Bissell should have foreseen the risk on that night in November when he skirted police and sped through the scene of an accident in a closed lane where he hit Tetrick at an estimated 49 mph.
Bissell was accused of leaving the scene where Tetrick was struck along I-90 East near MLK on Nov. 19 as he was working at the scene of a crash.
Police say they later found a vehicle matching the description involved in the incident and identified its owner as Bissell. A police report indicates an officer determined that Bissell "was intoxicated due to a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person, as well as bloodshot eyes and slurred speech."
Tetrick's funeral services included a ceremony at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
3News' Matt Rascon contributed to this report.