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A Champion man on Wednesday received an indefinite prison sentence of six to nine years after being convicted of felony charges linked to driving his 2006 Honda Civic into a Howland home the night of Sept. 23, 2020, crushing a man and his dog to their deaths in the basement.
Damien L. Fish, 24, of 5265 N. Park Ave. Extension, appeared with his attorney David Rouzzo as Trumbull Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay read the terms of the sentencing, which include a lifetime driver’s license suspension and a $350 fine plus court costs. Rouzzo asked the judge to allow his indigent client to make $5 per month payments while in prison.
Fish in late January pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of operating a vehicle while impaired. Fish’s car had crashed into 1313 DeForest Road SE, killing Matthew Burke, 45, who was on Skype with his fiancee in Canada at the time.
The defendant, who had often appeared during early court appearances with a neck brace, was not wearing one Wednesday. Fish had suffered two broken bones in his neck in the accident. He has been in jail since Sept. 29, 2020, records show.
Fish seemed contrite as he addressed the court before sentencing.
“There’s no amount of words to express the remorse I feel daily,” Fish stated, reading from a prepared statement. “I ask God for forgiveness. I wish I could go back to the the day it happened and rewind it.”