Hastings man convicted of manslaughter for December double fatality

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - A Hastings man will be sentenced for manslaughter in connection with a traffic accident that killed two teenagers last December.

As part of a plea deal 33-year-old Anthony Pingel on Monday pleaded no contest to two counts of felony manslaughter. He also pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor third degree assault and one count of DUI. He had originally been charged with felony motor vehicle homicide, but prosecutors dropped those charges. Pingel is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 5.

The fatal accident happened Dec. 12 at an intersection just east of Hastings. The teenagers who died in the crash were 16-year-old Victoria Fleming of Superior and 18-year-old Tristen Owens of Hastings.

According to a sheriff’s report, Pingel’s vehicle was traveling north on Blaine, when it collided with the other car carrying the two victims that was traveling east bound on 12th Street. When officers responded to the scene, they found the two passengers of the car that was hit, dead. The vehicle carrying the victims was engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived at the scene. The assault charges are related to injuries suffered by two other passengers riding in the victim’s vehicle.

Investigator’s determined that Pingel was drunk at the time of the accident.

The max penalty for a conviction on felony manslaughter is 20 years in prison.