Drunken driver gets prison for 2020 deaths of twin girls
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A drunken driver who crashed into a pregnant woman’s car, causing the deaths of her twin daughters, apologized for the 2020 head-on crash before being sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison.
Omarious Barns, 30, had a blood alcohol content level more than twice the legal limit when he drove head-on into a vehicle driven by Kristen Merritt, who was 36 weeks pregnant. An emergency C-section was performed, but the woman’s twins did not survive.
Barns was charged with two counts of operating under the influence causing miscarriage/stillbirth. The seldom-used charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Man charged in crash that killed pregnant woman’s twins
During sentencing Wednesday in Kent County Circuit Court, Barns, who had been free on bond, apologized. Judge Paul Denenfeld called the deaths “absolutely tragic” before sentencing Barns to between eight and 12.5 years in prison, court officials said.
The crash happened Oct. 26, 2020, on S. Division Avenue near Southbrook Drive SE in Cutlerville when a southbound vehicle driven by Barns crossed the centerline and struck Merritt’s vehicle head-on, court records show. According to police reports, Barns had a blood alcohol level of at least .18 at the time of the crash.
Merritt was nine months pregnant and less than a week away from her due date.
“An emergency C-section took place and both babies initially did not have a heartbeat,” Kent County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Postma wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “The first baby was revived after 8 minutes and the second baby was revived after 15 minutes.
“Due to complications from this crash, both girls died after several days,” Postma wrote.
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